THE HAGUE/PRISTINA: Former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci was found guilty of war crimes, including murder, torture and illegal detention, by the Kosovo war crimes tribunal in The Hague on September 16.

Thaci, 58, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for crimes committed while he was a senior commander of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the violent conflict with Serbia in the late 1990s.

The tribunal found Thaci guilty of responsibility for the murder of 96 political opponents, and people believed to have worked with Serbian security forces during the conflict.

He was also convicted of the illegal detention of 385 people, the torture of 303 people and the cruel treatment of 49 others. The court said none of the victims were taking part in the fighting when the crimes occurred.

Judges said Thaci had taken an active role in the crimes and encouraged them as part of a joint criminal plan. Presiding Judge Charles Smith said the plan involved creating detention centers in areas controlled by the KLA, identifying people seen as opponents, arresting and holding them and, when necessary, killing them.

The court said victims were kept in poor conditions, beaten, held in small cells and denied enough food and medical treatment.

Thaci stood silently as the judge announced the conviction and sentence. He had denied all the charges and can appeal the verdict.

The ruling was closely followed in Kosovo and Serbia, where the 1998-99 war and Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008 remain major sources of tension between ethnic Albanians and Serbs.

Thaci remains a respected figure among many Kosovo Albanians, while the tribunal itself has faced strong opposition in Kosovo.

In The Hague, several hundred Thaci supporters clashed briefly with police after protesters tried to walk towards the tribunal from a location where they had listened to a live audio broadcast of the judgment.

In Kosovo's capital, Pristina, hundreds of people marched through the city after the verdict. Dozens of riot police were deployed in several areas.

"This verdict is shameful. From today, there will be no peace in Kosovo," said Raif Pllana, a former KLA fighter who joined the protest in support of Thaci.

Police said they had prepared for possible support from foreign peacekeeping forces if the demonstrations became violent. The United States advised its citizens to avoid large crowds.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama also criticized the verdict. He posted a picture on social media showing a map of Europe surrounded by barbed wire and described the ruling as "Unbelievable".

Prosecutors had asked the court to sentence Thaci and three other former senior KLA commanders to 45 years in prison.

However, the three-judge panel dismissed six charges of crimes against humanity. The judges said prosecutors had not proved that those crimes were part of widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population.

Thaci's lawyers had argued that the accusations were unfounded and an attempt to rewrite the history of the Kosovo conflict.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers, based in The Hague, was created in 2015 under international pressure to prosecute former KLA members accused of war crimes during and after the conflict.

The judges said the trial had taken place amid serious concerns about witness intimidation. Some witnesses had withdrawn earlier statements, lied to the court, or changed their previous accounts.