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What could happen to the seven KLA figures who were mentioned in the September 16 verdict?

2026-09-18 11:15:00 / KOSOVA ALFA PRESS

What could happen to the seven KLA figures who were mentioned in the September

Seven people were named as part of a “joint criminal enterprise” in the Special Court’s conviction of Hashim Thaçi and three other former Kosovo Liberation Army commanders. But what does this mean for the seven, and could they face legal consequences?

Lahi Brahimaj, Fatmir Limaj, Sylejman Selimi, Rrustem Mustafa, Latif Gashi, Shukri Buja and Sabit Geci were not defendants, but their names were mentioned in the September 16 verdict of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.

During the announcement of the war crimes convictions against four former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commanders, the panel of what is also known as the Special Court found that the other seven figures were members of a "joint criminal enterprise."

It was even said that Limaj, Geci, Mustafa and Gashi "were diligent implementers of the criminal intent that targeted opponents."

How did the Special describe the "joint criminal enterprise"?

The trial panel supported the existence of a "common criminal intent" in factors such as: the murders of suspected Albanian collaborators and Serbs, political communications, special warfare, detention centers, and tolerance, acceptance, and encouragement of crimes against opponents.

According to the judges, the four former KLA leaders had assigned themselves and others roles and positions through which they "controlled the implementation of the common criminal intent."

“Retrospective criminalization” of the KLA leadership

Former prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Geoffrey Nice, calls the way Brahimaj, Limaj, Sylejman Selimi, Mustafa, Gashi, Buja and Geci were named in the verdict against the KLA four "unprecedented".

In a response to Radio Free Europe (RFE/RL), he points out that such verdicts can state that someone has "acted within the framework of a joint criminal enterprise with unknown persons."

Meanwhile, the lawyer licensed in the Specialist Chambers, Artan Qerkini, tells REL that the trial panel needed other "members" as part of this "common purpose", to link the four convicts to crimes committed by other persons.

With this finding, according to Nevenka Trompi, an ICTY researcher who has closely followed the process in the "Thaci and Others" case, the Special Court characterized the entire KLA General Staff as participants in a "criminal enterprise."

“It is a retrospective criminalization of the central command structure of the KLA as a whole, to a degree that the ICTY's own judgments never confirmed,” Tromp tells REL.

Can the Prosecution launch investigations against the seven?

A summary of the September 16 verdict states that the seven KLA figures agreed on “a common criminal intent,” but notes that they have not been found guilty and enjoy the presumption of innocence.

Even lawyer Qerkini claims that the fact that they are mentioned in the verdict does not constitute a criminal complaint against them.

"The Specialized Prosecutor's Office has had these names in its indictment since 2020, and for six years it has not filed an indictment against them," he says.

Regarding the question of whether the seven mentioned could face legal consequences, Qerkini says that he "finally closes" the case of Sylejman Selim, because the Specialized Prosecutor's Office had discontinued the investigation against him in February 2025.

According to him, other names have also gone through legal processes, and here he says that the well-known principle of criminal law "no trial twice for the same matter" applies.

Weeks ago, the Special Prosecution Office told REL that they refuse to comment on "the existence or details of any investigation."

According to them, the mandate of this prosecution continues "until the Council of the European Union notifies the institutions of Kosovo that the relevant investigations and procedures have been completed."

Shukri Buja, mentioned by the trial panel on September 16, does not believe he can be prosecuted, as Special Prosecutors in 2024 closed the investigations they had launched against him five years earlier.

"I am the first case where they have closed the investigations, and in a way they have declared my fight just and untainted," Buja tells REL.

He says that the designation "member of a joint criminal enterprise" does not taint him, unlike the verdict that, according to him, "unfairly" tainted the four former KLA leaders.

What processes did the seven KLA figures go through?

Some of the seven figures mentioned in the verdict have been questioned by the Specialist Prosecutor's Office in The Hague.

Previously, they have had various experiences with justice on matters related to war crimes.

Lahi Brahimaj and Fatmir Limaj were tried by the ICTY, but both were ultimately found not guilty. Limaj was also found not guilty in the “Kleçka” and “Bellanica” cases in Kosovo.

Sylejman Selimi, Rrustem Mustafa and Latif Gashi were convicted by courts in Kosovo of war crimes, while Selimi was later found not guilty in a retrial of one of the cases.

Sabit Geci was convicted in Kosovo for war crimes against civilians, while Buja has not gone through any war crimes trial.

According to former prosecutor Nice, we must wait for the full verdict to see if there will be a justification for why the seven names were mentioned in the case against the KLA four./REL

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