Act Daily News
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A battle crimes tribunal in The Hague on Friday sentenced a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army to 26 years in jail for the battle crimes of arbitrary detention, torture and homicide.
The Salih Mustafa case was one overseen partly by now-special counsel Jack Smith, a battle crimes prosecutor appointed final month by Attorney General Merrick Garland to supervise investigations within the US involving former President Donald Trump.
The panel of judges within the tribunal discovered Mustafa responsible of crimes that occurred in April 1999 in a village in Kosovo used as a base by a KLA unit that Mustafa led in the course of the battle with Serbian authorities forces.
Mustafa’s conviction is the primary battle crimes verdict within the Kosovo tribunal.
Victims who had been ethnic Albanians had been accused of being spies and collaborators, had been held in inhumane situations and subjected to beatings, mock executions to acquire compelled confessions, and no less than one died from the therapy by the hands of the militant group, in response to the tribunal’s verdict.
The panel concluded that “the physical and psychological abuse, coupled with the inhumane and degrading conditions of detention, left the detainees with life-long injuries, both physical and psychological.”
Smith participated within the Mustafa trial earlier than stepping down final month from his position as specialist prosecutor within the Kosovo tribunal after being tapped to supervise the Trump-related investigations within the US.
He stays within the Netherlands whereas he recovers from a motorbike damage and is anticipated to return to the US within the coming weeks.
“Today’s judgment represents a victory for justice and, in particular, for the victims of Salih Mustafa and their families, all Kosovar Albanians, whose personal tragedies have been at the heart of this case and who have suffered more than two decades on account of Mr. Mustafa’s actions,” mentioned performing specialist prosecutor Alex Whiting, who took over the position from Smith, in a press release.