The Specialist Chambers in The Hague announced the decision of the Court of Appeal in the case of the former commander of the BIA Unit of the KLA, Salih Mustafa, accused of war crimes, upholding the verdict of guilt for war crimes, but canceling the unified sentence with 26 years of imprisonment and assigned a sentence of 22 years of imprisonment, counting the time spent in custody.
Michel Picard, the presiding judge in Mustafa’s case, went over each piece of evidence that Mustafa contested on appeal, detailing and refuting it. However, he emphasized that the Appeals panel considers it appropriate to reduce the individual sentences given to Sali Mustafa.
Picard gave the reason for the reduction of the sentences after comparing the sentences given by the Court of The Hague and the courts of Kosovo regarding the same charges, sentences which he said were shorter than Mustafa’s sentence.
She added that the appeals panel in some cases has decided to review Mustafa’s arguments even against the fact that he did not argue concrete findings of the trial body.
Mustafa, in December of last year, was sentenced by the first degree to 26 years of imprisonment for the charge of keeping and mistreating several Albanian civilians, one of whom was killed, in the complex of buildings in Zllash. Meanwhile, on February 2, the defense appealed against this judgment.
