A court in The Hague has convicted Kosovo's former President Hashim Thaci of war crimes and sentenced him to 25 years in prison, according to a report by Click2Houston.

The sentence is one of the most significant delivered against a former head of state in recent international criminal justice. Thaci, who served as Kosovo's president and was once the international face of the country's independence movement, now stands convicted by a tribunal sitting in The Hague.

What did the court decide?

The Hague-based court found Thaci guilty of war crimes and imposed a 25-year prison term. The conviction marks the fall of a political figure who rose from wartime leadership to the presidency of Kosovo, a state that declared independence in 2008.

Who is Hashim Thaci?

Thaci led Kosovo's Albanian political and military establishment during the conflict with Serbia in the late 1990s and later became president. He resigned the presidency after his indictment was confirmed, and he faced trial before the Hague-based tribunal established to try crimes committed during and after the Kosovo conflict.

What does the sentence mean in practice?

For practitioners, the judgment represents the culmination of proceedings before the specialist tribunal set up to address Kosovo war-era crimes — a court created with international support but operating under Kosovo's legal framework, seated in the Netherlands. A 25-year sentence against a former president ranks among the heaviest penalties the international criminal justice system has imposed on a one-time head of state. Defense and prosecution teams will now assess grounds for appeal, a step that typically follows verdicts of this magnitude and can extend final resolution by months or years.

For Kosovo, the verdict carries political weight. Thaci remains a polarizing figure: celebrated by many Kosovars as a founding father of independence, accused by prosecutors of responsibility for atrocities. The judgment will test the country's institutions and its relations with international partners.

What happens next?

The sentencing closes the trial phase, but the legal process may continue. Parties in international criminal proceedings ordinarily retain the right to appeal convictions and sentences, and the tribunal's appellate machinery can revisit both liability findings and the length of the term.

The 25-year sentence places Thaci among the small group of former heads of state convicted of international crimes by courts seated in The Hague.

• Verdict: guilty of war crimes
• Sentence: 25 years' imprisonment
• Court seat: The Hague
• Defendant status: former President of Kosovo