Defence lawyers say Thaci did not control KLA guerillas

Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci attends his war crimes trial in The Hague, Netherlands April 3, 2023. Koen van Weel/Pool via REUTERS

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Lawyers for Kosovo's former president Hashim Thaci said on Tuesday that he did not control the guerilla Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) at the time of the war crimes charges against him, and said any such crimes were the result of uncontrolled local activity.

Thaci and three co-defendants face 10 charges of persecution, murder, torture and forced disappearance of people during and shortly after the 1998-99 insurgency that eventually brought Kosovo independence from Serbia and made him a hero among many compatriots at home and abroad.