A court has sentenced Kosovo's former President Hashim Thaci to 25 years in prison after convicting him of war crimes, according to NPR.

The verdict and sentence cap a landmark prosecution of a former head of state who once stood at the centre of Kosovo's struggle for independence.

Who decided the case?

The conviction makes Thaci the most senior Kosovo Albanian figure to face judgment for conduct tied to the conflict era. He resigned the presidency in order to face the charges, a step he announced at a press conference at the time, saying: "I will resign as president... to face the accusations."

What does the sentence mean in practice?

A 25-year term ranks among the heaviest penalties available to international war crimes judges for a former national leader. For practitioners, the judgment closes one of the most politically charged cases arising from the Kosovo conflict and will be picked over by defence counsel and prosecutors alike for its findings on command responsibility and individual criminal conduct.

The sentence is subject to the appellate avenues available under the court's procedure, and Thaci's legal team retains the option to challenge both conviction and sentence.

Why does the verdict matter?

Thaci led Kosovo through its declaration of independence and later served as president and foreign minister. His conviction by an internationalised tribunal — staffed largely by international judges — delivers accountability at the highest political level for wartime conduct.

For the region, the judgment will resonate far beyond the courtroom. It confirms that senior office offers no shield from prosecution, and it supplies a definitive judicial record of events that shaped Kosovo's path to statehood.

The 25-year sentence brings to a close a case that began with his indictment and resignation from office, and that ended with a former president of Kosovo convicted of war crimes.