Retired US General Wesley Clark will testify in the defense of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, who is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Kosovo Special Court in The Hague. Thaci’s defense announced that Clark has received authorization from the United States Government to testify in the defense of Thaci, who, along with three former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commanders, are being tried in the Dutch city for war crimes. Clark led the NATO air campaign against Serbian military targets in 1999. The 11-week NATO campaign of attacks was launched to stop Serbian forces’ violence against Albanians in Kosovo, and it was suspended in June 1999, the day after the signing of the Kumanovo Agreement.
Clark is seen as a hero in Kosovo for his role in the liberation of the country, and for this he was honored in Pristina in 2024 with a decoration. There are even streets in Kosovo named in his honor. The trial of Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selim, who deny charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity before and during the 1998-1999 war, is nearing its conclusion. Clark will be the last to testify on Thaçi's behalf, whose defense began calling witnesses in September.
It is not clear when exactly Clark will take the witness stand for the defense, but according to the defense, he has announced that he cannot testify before November 18 or 19. Thaçi's defense had previously anticipated that it would call witnesses by November 14, but the court has allowed more time. The defense has also asked the court to reserve Friday, November 21, as an additional day of hearing, in case this is necessary to conclude Clark's testimony. So far, former US Assistant Secretary of State James Rubin, legal advisor to the Kosovo delegation during the 1999 Rambouillet negotiations, Paul Williams, and former British diplomat John Stewart Duncan have testified in Thaçi's defense. All of them said in their testimonies that Thaçi had no authority over the KLA.
The Kosovo Special Court is based in The Hague, Netherlands, and is composed of international judges and lawyers, established by the Kosovo Assembly in 2015 to try cases against former KLA members under Kosovo law. It expects to conclude the trial of the former KLA leaders by the end of December. Thaçi was the political leader of the KLA before and during the 1998–1999 war, Veseli was the head of the intelligence service, Krasniqi was the spokesman, and Selimi was a member of the general staff. The indictment against them includes charges of unlawful detention, torture, murder, crimes against humanity, enforced disappearances, and persecution of hundreds of civilians and persons who did not participate in the fighting.
These crimes allegedly took place between March 1998 and September 1999 in various locations in Kosovo, but also in northern Albania. According to the Specialist Chambers, Thaçi, Veseli, Krasniqi and Selimi bear personal criminal responsibility for these crimes, but they all deny guilt. Defense lawyers have stated that the KLA would not have gained the support of the international community if there had been a criminal plan, as prosecutors allege. According to them, the indictment is based on a selective misinterpretation of events.
