Special Tribunal for Kosovo Sentences Pjetër Shala to 18 Years in Prison

Former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) fighter Pjetër Shala was found guilty of three war crimes by international judges of the Special Tribunal for Kosovo.

This court, which is part of Kosovo’s legal system, is funded by the European Union and based in the Netherlands.

The former Kosovar independence activist was sentenced to 18 years in prison for the murder of one person and the illegal detention and torture of at least 18 civilians in 1999during his country’s war of independence against Serbia.

Arbitrary detentions at the Kukës factory

According to the judges of the Special Tribunal for Kosovo, These abuses were committed during the months of May and June 1999, at the metallurgical plant of Kukës, a town located in the north of Albania.which served as the headquarters of the Kosovo Liberation Army at that time.

The factory was used by KLA members to detain and interrogate people suspected of collaborating or sympathizing with the Serbian authorities.

The 18 civilians were detained in “inhuman and degrading conditions, in small rooms, without adequate water, food and medical care, without being allowed to wash or change clothes“according to the court’s final report.

Prisoners were not informed of the reasons for their detention and had no opportunity to challenge its legality.

Pjetër Shala’s personal responsibility

The court report states that “Pjetër Shala was physically present at the Kukës factory on several occasions and participated, together with other KLA members, in the transfer of a detainee, as well as in the interrogation and ill-treatment of several prisoners”.

He would also have participated in the mistreatment of a prisoner who died after being shot.

“Although Pjetër Shala had no particular rank or official position within the KLA, he nevertheless enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy within the Kukës factory”the judges specify.

The 60-year-old Kosovar former fighter, nicknamed “The Wolf”, was arrested in Belgium in March 2021.

During the trial, The judges heard from 22 witnesses and eight victims, all of whom were granted special protection measures..

Several members of the Kosovo Liberation Army are still being heldan investigation into war crimes committed during this conflict which left 13,000 dead between 1998 and 1999.