The 58-year-old Thaci, and three other former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army who fought Serb forces in the 1998-99 war, was convicted on four counts of war crimes: illegal and arbitrary arrest and detention, cruel treatment, torture, and murder.

An international tribunal in the Hague on September 16 said it has found former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commander and later Kosovo President Hashim Thaci guilty of war crimes and sentenced the 58-year-old to 25 years in prison.