War crimes court upholds the conviction of a former Kosovo Liberation Army commander

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Appeals judges at a special Kosovo court upheld Thursday the convictions of a former commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army for arbitrarily detaining and torturing prisoners and murdering one of them during Kosovo’s war for independence, but reduced his sentence by four years. Presiding Judge Michèle Picard called the ruling — the first appeals judgment in a war crimes case at the court — an important milestone and a “significant step towards providing justice to victims and ensuring accountability.” Picard stressed that the reduction in Mustafa’s sentence “in no way suggests that the crimes for which he has been convicted and sentenced are not grave.” Mustafa showed no emotion as Picard read out the appeal judgment. Mustafa was the first person convicted of war crimes by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, a branch of Kosovo’s court system that was established in the Netherlands to investigate crimes from the conflict. She said that, despite the cut in sentence, the judgment “represents a victory for justice and, in particular, for the victims of Salih Mustafa and their families.” Since Mustafa’s conviction, the court also has opened the trial of former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci and three co-defendants on charges including murder and torture.