The Hague, 3 April 2023 (dpa/MIA) – Former Kosovo president Hashim Thaçi denied all charges at the start of his trial on Monday for war crimes and crimes against humanity before a special tribunal in The Hague.

"I'm not guilty," Thaçi, 54, told the court. The former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) is on trial along with three other senior KLA officers in relation to crimes committed at the end of the 1990s when the KLA was fighting for Kosovo's independence from Serbia.

The prosecution charges that the four men formed the leadership of a "joint criminal enterprise" in the Kosovo Albanian militia. They stand accused of murder, torture, abduction and persecution.

More than 100 people were murdered, chief prosecutor Alex Whiting told the court, with most of the victims Kosovo Albanians seen as collaborating with the Serbian authorities or as opponents of the KLA.

Thaçi is the first former high-ranking politician from Kosovo to be brought before the special tribunal. "No one is above the law," Whiting said.

Thaçi resigned as president in April 2020 shortly after prosecutors filed their charges in The Hague. He was subsequently arrested and transferred to the court. More than 300 witnesses are expected to give evidence in a trial expected to last two years.

The KLA battled Serbian troops during 1998 and 1999 to gain independence from Serbia of the province with its largely Albanian population. Independence was finally achieved with the aid of NATO.