The Supreme Court Panel, functioning within the Hague-based Specialist Chambers, has once again referred Salih Mustafa’s case and his sentence for war crimes back to the Appeals Chamber.
Mustafa, a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), was initially sentenced in December 2022 to 26 years in prison for illegal killings, arbitrary detention, and torture.
In December 2023, the Appeals Chamber had reduced his sentence to 22 years in prison.
The Specialist Chambers investigate alleged crimes by members of the KLA against ethnic minorities and political rivals during the period from January 1998 to December 2000.
Based in The Hague, Netherlands, the Specialist Chambers operate under Kosovo’s laws.
In a media statement on July 30, the Specialist Chambers announced that, following Mustafa’s request for legal review, the Supreme Court panel has returned his case to the Appeals Chamber to reconsider the sentence reduction.
Legal review is a judicial remedy aimed at correcting any potential errors in the judicial process.
“The Panel is of the opinion that the Appeals Panel should have the opportunity to assess whether the 22-year prison sentence for Mustafa remains justified in light of the analysed jurisprudence,” the Supreme Court’s decision stated.
Mustafa was the first person to be sentenced by the Specialist Chambers in relation to war crimes allegations.
In July of this year, the Specialist Chambers also sentenced Pjetër Shala to 18 years in prison for war crimes.
According to the Specialist Chambers, the victims were primarily Kosovo Albanians who suffered harm at the hands of other Kosovo Albanians.
In addition to Mustafa and Shala, those accused of war crimes include former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, former leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo Kadri Veseli, former member of the KLA General Staff Rexhep Selimi, and former KLA spokesman Jakup Krasniqi.
Their trials are ongoing.
Previously, the Specialist Chambers in The Hague sentenced former leaders of the KLA Veterans Organization, Hysni Gucati and Nasim Haradinaj, for obstructing justice, but they were later conditionally released.
