Kosovo war crimes tribunal sentences former KLA member to 18 years
Al Jazeera
Judges have ruled that Pjeter Shala committed war crimes during the 1998-99 Kosovo uprising against Serbian troops.
Judges at the Kosovo tribunal in The Hague have sentenced former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) member Pjeter Shala to 18 years in prison for war crimes committed during the 1998-99 Kosovo uprising against Serbian troops.
Shala was convicted of war crimes including torture, murder and arbitrary detention, committed as he ran a makeshift prison where people were abused and at least one man was killed.
Shala maintained his innocence throughout his trial. His lawyers argued that he was not present when crimes were committed nor had he participated in them.
The judges, however, ruled that he was “beyond reasonable doubt” part of a criminal group that detained and severely mistreated at least 18 people it considered to be spies or collaborators with Serbs.
“Having considered all the evidence, the panel finds you, Mr Pjeter Shala guilty … of war crimes,” Judge Mappie Veldt-Foglia told the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Tuesday.
