Tribunal sentences former Kosovo Liberation Army member to 18 years in prison for war crimes News
DennisHH, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Tribunal sentences former Kosovo Liberation Army member to 18 years in prison for war crimes

The Trial Panel at the Kosovo tribunal in The Hague sentenced the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) member Pjeter Shala to 18 years in prison on Tuesday for war crimes committed during the 1998-1999 Kosovo War. The court found Shala guilty of arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture and murder.

The court stated that Shala had participated in the depravation of victims’ liberty through the “acts of cruel treatment and torture.” Shala and his associates had arrested and detained the victims with no legal basis, had failed to inform the persons of the reasons for arrest and detention and had deprived them of the opportunity to challenge the detention.

Shala also established and maintained inhumane detention conditions including, “inadequate provisions of food, water, sanitation and hygiene, accomodation and medical care” despite the “serious mental and/or physical suffering or injury” of the detainees. Beyond the conditions, Shala continuously assaulted the detainees physically and psychologically and made no attempt at preventing or mitigating the violence and “aiding the humane treatment of the detainees.”

Based on the same facts of cruel treatment, the court ruled that Shala intended to inflict “severe pain or suffering with the aim of obtaining information or confessions, punishing, intimidating or coercing the victims, and/or discriminating, including on political grounds, against the victims.” The court also found Shala continued to participate in the beating of a shot victim despite a doctor’s advice that the detainee needed medical support. The victim passed away within 24 hours of being shot as a result of his injuries.

Shala was arrested on March 16, 2021 in Belgium and was transferred to the Detention Unit of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers on April 15 2021 for the trials. He pleaded not guilty to all four counts. Shala’s trial began on February 21, 2023, and closing arguments concluded on April 17, 2024.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) is a temporary body comprised of international staff. The tribunal and SPO have a specific mandate over war crimes, crimes against humanity and other crimes under Kosovo law that “were commenced or committed between 1 January 1998 and 31 December 2000 by or against citizens of Kosovo or the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.” The tribunal’s jurisdiction is based on Article 162 of the Kosovo Constitution and the Law on Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office,

The Tribunal and SPO are seated in The Hague.

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