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Kosovo leader Khashim Thaci resigns

Thaci announced his resignation at a press conference in Pristina, noting that the Court has confirmed charges put forth against him

Kosovo leader Khashim Thaci EPA-EFE/STRINGER

Kosovo leader Khashim Thaci

© EPA-EFE/STRINGER

BELGRADE, November 5. /TASS/. Kosovo leader Khashim Thaci has stepped down over allegations of war crimes, this has been confirmed by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, Serbia’s RTS reported Thursday.

According to the report, Thaci announced his resignation at a press conference in Pristina, noting that the court had confirmed charges put forth against him. After his statement, Thaci surrendered to officials from the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo. On Thursday, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office also confirmed the charges, put forth against former Kosovo parliament speaker Kadri Veseli.

On Thursday, the Specialist Court also confirmed charges, put forth against the former Kosovo parliament speaker Kadri Veseli.

This summer, the Kosovo Specialist Prosecutors’s Office announced that it suspected Thaci and Veseli of war crimes, adding that the indictment had been filed on April 24. According to the indictment, Thaci, Veseli and a number of other Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) figures are suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity on 10 different charges, including murder, abduction, persecution and torture. According to the document, as former KLA militants, Thaci and Veseli are responsible for the murders of almost 100 people, including Kosovo Albanians, Serbs, Roma and people of other ethnic groups, including their political enemies.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office was established to investigate grave crimes, committed between 1998 and 2000 in Kosovo. Its establishment was motivated by the 2011 PACE report, which stated that members of the Kosovo Liberation Army were involved in drug trafficking, abductions, murders and the trading of human organs. In order to guarantee the independence of this structure, it has been based in The Hague.

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