Twenty-six years in prison is the sentence imposed on a former UCK commander by the Special Court for Kosovo. Salih Mustafa was found guilty of murder, torture and arbitrary detention committed in April 1999, at the height of fighting between Albanian-Kosovar separatists in the KLA and the Serb forces of Slobodan Milosevic.
With our correspondent in The Hague, Stephanie Maupas
Throughout the reading, Salih Mustafa contained a very visible emotion: 26 years in prison for torture inflicted on prisoners, crimes committed in a particularly cruel way, retained the judges. Considered traitors to the independence cause, the prisoners were parked in a barn, like ” animals “, underlines the judgment.
Twenty-eight witnesses came to testify during this first trial on the crimes of 1998-999.
►Also read: War crimes in Kosovo: the “Last Chance Court”
A persistent climate of fear
The president, Mappie Veldt Foglia, therefore praised the courage of the witnesses, the majority of whom testified under protection: “ The panel recognizes that it takes a lot of courage to come and testify. The victims did so in a general climate of fear and intimidation that persists in Kosovo to this day. Throughout this trial, the panel heard the testimony of several witnesses indicating that those who cooperate or are supposed to cooperate with the specialized chambers or the prosecutor are labeled in Kosovo as traitors and collaborators and are subject to threats and harassment. intimidation, either themselves or their children “.
Created in 2015the tribunal for Kosovo is located in The Hague, in particular to be able to protect the witnesses who come to testify.