Hague court sentences former Kosovo Liberation Army member to 18 years

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague sentenced former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) member Pjeter Shala to 18 years in prison for war crimes during the 1990s Kosovo uprising.

Judges found Shala guilty of one count of murder, arbitrary detention and torture of at least 18 victims in May and June of 1999 when he ran a makeshift prison where those detained were abused.

The victims, mostly Kosovo Albanians, were kept by KLA fighters in an old factory in Kukes in northern Albania, according to the indictment.

Judge Mappie Veldt-Foglia said the court obtained reliable evidence that the factory was used to detain, interrogate and mistreat those suspected of collaborating with Serbian authorities or not sufficiently supporting the KLA.

Shala, 60, was arrested in Belgium on March 16, 2021, and transferred to the court on April 15, 2021.

The trial began Feb. 21, 2023.

Shala, a Belgian known by the nickname, "Commander Wolf," denied the accusations against him.

- Kosovo Specialist Chambers

The special court, known as the Kosovo Special Chambers, and the Special Prosecutor's Office were established in The Hague in 2011.

It was established to investigate and prosecute war crimes alleged to have been committed in Kosovo between 1998 - 2000. It consists of international judges and prosecutors.

Since the beginning of 2019, the Special Prosecutor's Office has invited dozens of former KLA members to testify.

The first indictment that was approved on Oct. 26, 2020, against former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, who is charged with war crimes, along with three other defendants, said they were responsible for the deaths of 100 victims.

The court has found former KLA commander Salih Mustafa guilty of war crimes, and KLA War Veterans Association executives Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj guilty of publishing private court documents.

The KLA was founded by Kosovo Albanians in the 1990s to oppose Yugoslav forces and lead Kosovo to an independent country.

Kosovo declared its unilateral independence from Serbia on Feb. 17, 2008, but Serbia still sees Kosovo as its "own territory."