A court in The Hague sentenced Kosovo’s former president Hashim Thaci to 25 years in prison on Thursday after finding him guilty of war crimes committed during the late 1990s conflict in which Kosovo broke away from Serbia

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers convicted Thaci, 58, of murder, torture, cruel treatment, and the illegal detention of civilians

The tribunal determined that he bore criminal responsibility as the top commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), the ethnic Albanian separatist force that fought Serbian security forces between 1998 and 1999. Presiding judge Charles Smith said Thaci “actively participated in and encouraged crimes.”

The court established that KLA forces under his command murdered 96 people identified as political opponents or perceived collaborators with Serbian authorities. A further 385 people were arbitrarily detained, 303 were tortured, and around 50 others suffered cruel treatment.

Judge Smith told the court: “The scale and nature of the crimes committed were very serious. The so-called intelligence on which many of these victims were arrested, detained and killed was little more than unverified rumours. Based on that information, victims were called and described as spies and collaborators and violently treated.”

The American judge was careful to clarify that the proceedings were “not about the legitimacy of the Kosovo Liberation Army” or Kosovo’s goal of independence. Thaci, who denied all charges, stood in silence as the sentence was delivered. He retains the right to appeal.

Three other former senior KLA figures were tried alongside Thaci. Jakup Krasniqi also received a 25-year sentence, while Kadri Veseli was jailed for 18 years and Rexhep Selimi for 13 years. All four had denied the charges.

The panel acquitted the four men on six counts of crimes against humanity, ruling that prosecutors failed to prove those crimes were part of a widespread and systematic attack on civilians.

The verdicts drew an immediate public response in Kosovo, where Thaci remains a revered figure for many ethnic Albanians. Thousands had gathered in the capital Pristina ahead of the ruling, with crowds filling a central square waving red and black Albanian flags and banners calling for the men’s acquittal. When the guilty verdicts were announced on a big screen, many in the crowd booed and wept.

Thaci had resigned from the Kosovo presidency in late 2020 to face the charges, after nearly three years of trial proceedings. In his closing address to the court in February, he said: “Throughout my life, I stood with the people of Kosovo defending freedom, life and dignity. I was always guided by the Western ideals of democracy, equality and justice.”

Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama reacted to the verdict by posting an image of barbed wire stretched across a map of Europe, with a single word: “Unbelievable.”

Former Senator representing the Funtua Senatorial District of Katsina State, Bello Mandiya, is dead.

His death was announced by a close associate, Malam Maiwada DanMalam, in a Facebook post.

According to DanMalam, the funeral prayer for the former senator will be held on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. at the Apo Legislative Quarters in Abuja.

“Funeral prayers will be held on Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. at Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja,” he said.

A former chairman of the Edo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Dan Osi Obirh, is dead.

DAILY POST gathered that Orbih, who was also a former PDP National Vice Chairman, South-South, died on Monday, August 31, 2026.

Lere Olayinka, the Chief Press Secretary to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, in a post on his Facebook page, said the news of the politician’s death was made public by Francis Udukhomoi Orbih, a member of the family.

The post titled, ‘In Loving Memory’, read, “With profound sadness and a heavy heart but in total submission to the will of the almighty God, the family of Chief M.C.K. Orbih announce the passing of our beloved brother, husband, father and uncle, Chief Daniel Osi Orbih, who passed away on Monday, 31 August 2026.

“He is survived by his wife, Mrs Florence Orbih; his children, Ms. Winifred Anwosiobor Orbih and Dr. Mildred Omonemi Orbih; his brothers and sisters; as well as other members of the extended family.

“At this difficult time, we ask family members, friends and well-wishers to remember the entire family in their prayers as we mourn this painful loss.

“Further details will be announced in due course. May his soul rest in perfect peace.”

Orbih, before his death, was the Chairman, Governing Council of the Ambrose Alli University, AAU, Ekpoma.

He was a close ally of FCT minister, Wike.

The late PDP chieftain was born on October 27, 1961, at Ogbona, in Etsako Central Local Government Area, Edo State.