Salih Mustafa was Commander of a BIA guerrilla unit, which operated within the Llap Operational Zone of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

INDICTMENT HISTORY

The indictment against Mustafa was confirmed on 12 June 2020 and the final version was made public on 28 September 2020. 

Summary of charges

The indictment charges Mustafa on the basis of individual criminal responsibility and superior criminal responsibility with crimes committed by certain KLA members against persons detained at the detention compound in the village of Zllash/Zlaš, located in the Gollak/Goljak region in Kosovo. According to the indictment, between approximately 1 April 1999 and around the end of April 1999, Salih Mustafa and certain other KLA soldiers, police, and guards shared a common purpose to interrogate and mistreat detainees at the Zllash detention compound and the common purpose involved the crimes as specified below.

The charges are the following:

Four counts of war crimes

  • Arbitrary detention (Count 1)
  • Cruel treatment (Count 2)
  • Torture (Count 3)
  • Murder (Count 4)

LINK TO THE OPERATIVE INDICTMENT

 


PROCEDURAL DEVELOPMENTS

Pre-trial/Trial/Reparations (Case number: KSC-BC-2020-05 and KSC-BC-2020-05/R)

  • Mustafa was arrested and transferred to the Detention Unit of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers on 24 September 2020.

  • Mustafa’s initial appearance took place on 28 September 2020 before the Pre-Trial Judge, Nicolas Guillou. At his further appearance on 28 October 2020, Mustafa pleaded not guilty to all counts of the indictment.

  • The parties filed (confidentially) the latest versions of their pre-trial briefs on 22 February 2021 (Specialist Prosecutor's Office) and on 6 May 2021 (Defence).

  • On 30 April 2021, the Pre-Trial Judge issued the first decision on victims applications.

  • On 7 May 2021, the Pre-Trial Judge transmitted the case file to Trial Panel I.

  • On 21 May 2021, the Trial Panel issued the second decision on victims applications. The Panel also extended the deadline for the victims to apply until the closing of the Specialist Prosecutor’s case. There were 8 participating victims in the case as part of a single group (Group 1).

  • The trial preparation conferences in this case were held on 9 and 10 June 2021. 

  • The trial commenced on 15 September 2021 with the opening statements of the Specialist Prosecutor and the Victims’ Counsel. On 4 February 2022, the SPO closed its case.

  • On 23 February 2022, the Panel denied the Defence motion to dismiss the charges against the accused pursuant to Rule 130 of the KSC Rules of Procedure and Evidence. The Defence preparation conference and the Victims’ status conference took place on 8 and 9 March 2022.

  • The Defence case commenced on 22 March 2022, preceded by the presentation of evidence by Victim’s Counsel on 21 March. On 26 May 2022, the Defence of Salih Mustafa notified about the official closure of its case. 

  • On 1 June 2022, SPO presented its evidence in rebuttal by calling one witness and tendering additional documentary evidence.

  • On 3 June 2022, the Panel called additional evidence in accordance with Rule 132 of the Rules, namely two expert reports related to the medical assessment of some of the admitted victims in this case.

  • The evidentiary proceedings in this case were closed on 20 June 2022. On 21 and 22 July 2022 respectively, the Mustafa Defence and the Prosecution filed their final trial briefs. The closing statements took place from 13 until 15 September 2022. 

  • The trial judgment was pronounced on 16 December 2022: The Trial Panel found the accused guilty of the war crimes of arbitrary detention, torture and murder and sentenced him to a prison sentence of 26 years.

  • The reparation order in respect of victims was pronounced on 6 April 2023: The Trial Panel ordered Mustafa to pay an overall sum of €207,000 as compensation for the harm inflicted on the victims of the crimes for which he is convicted.

  • On 17 January 2024, KSC President Trendafilova assigned Judge Gilbert Bitti as Single Judge to oversee the implementation by the Registrar of the reparation order. 

 

LINK TO THE TRIAL JUDGMENT 

 

LINK TO THE REPARATION ORDER 

 

Trial information/statistics
Trial Panel composition Judges Mappie Veldt-Foglia (Presiding), Roland Dekkers, Gilbert Bitti, Vladimir Mikula (Reserve judge)
Specialist Prosecutor's Office Cezary Michalczuk, Silvia D’Ascoli, Filippo De Minicis
Defence Counsel Julius von Bóné (counsel), Betim Shala (co-counsel)
Victims' Counsel Anni Pues (counsel), Annebrecht Vossenberg (co-counsel)
Number of witnesses in court 29 (14 for SPO, including 1 rebuttal witness; 15 for Defence)
Number of written witness testimonies 2 (SPO)
Number of participating victims  8
Number of trial days in court 53
Pre-trial period length 11 months 22 days
Trial judgment deliberation phase length (between the end of trial until the pronouncement of trial judgment) 3 months
Total time before Basic Court (from transfer to the KSC until the trial judgment) 26 months 22 days

 

Appeal proceedings (Case number: KSC-CA-2023-02)

  • On 9 January 2023, a Court of the Appeals Panel granted in part a motion by Mustafa Defence for an extension of the time limit and authorised both parties to file their notices of appeal, if any, by 3 February 2023.

  • On 2 February 2023, Mustafa's Defence filed (confidentially) its notice of appeal against the judgment. Accordingly, the President assigned the Court of Appeals Panel, composed of Judges Michèle Picard, Kai Ambos and Nina Jørgensen to decide on the appeals. On 13 February 2023, the Defence filed a public redacted version of its notice of appeal.

  • The Pre-Appeal Conference took place on 16 February 2023.

  • On 3 April 2023, the Court of the Appeals Panel granted in part a request by Mustafa Defence for an extension of the time limit and authorised it to file its appeal brief by 24 April 2023. The latest redacted version of the corrected Defence’s appeal brief was filed on 15 September 2023.

  • The appeal hearing took place on 26 and 27 October 2023.

  • The appeal judgment was pronounced on 14 December 2023. The Appeals Panel affirmed Mustafa’s convictions for the war crimes of arbitrary detention (count 1), torture (count 3), and murder (count 4). The Panel dismissed eight grounds raised by Mustafa, while granting in part his challenge to the Trial Panel’s imposition of a sentence of 26 years of imprisonment. Having found that, in cases before both international tribunals and Kosovo courts concerning war crimes comparable to those for which Mustafa was sentenced, shorter sentences were imposed than those imposed by the Trial Panel in this case, the Appeals Panel reduced his overall single sentence from 26 years to 22 years of imprisonment, with credit for time served. The Panel also noted that the Reparation Order, issued on 6 April 2023, is not affected by the appeal judgment as Mustafa did not appeal it. 

 

LINK TO THE APPEAL JUDGMENT

 

Appeal case information/statistics
Court of Appeals Panel composition Judges Michèle Picard (Presiding), Kai Ambos and Nina Jørgensen
Specialist Prosecutor's Office Cezary Michalczuk, Nico Baarlink
Defence Counsel Julius von Bóné (counsel), Betim Shala (co-counsel)
Victims' Counsel Anni Pues (counsel), Annebrecht Vossenberg (co-counsel)
Appeal judgment deliberation phase (from the parties' last submissions until the pronouncement of the appeal judgement) 1 months and 13 days
Appeal case length* 10 month 12 days

*the period between the filing of the notices of appeal untill the pronunciation of the appeal judgment


 

Request for protection of legality before Supreme Court (Case number KSC-SC-2024-02)

  • On 15 January 2024, the Mustafa Defence requested an extension of time to file a request for protection of legality. On 17 January 2024, President Trendafilova assigned a Supreme Court Panel to decide on this and any other request related to this matter. On 25 January, the Supreme Court Panel dismissed the Defence request for extension of time. 

Supreme Court Panel composition Judges Ekaterina Trendafilova (Presiding), Christine van den Wyngaert and Daniel Fransen
Specialist Prosecutor's Office Cezary Michalczuk, Nico Baarlink
Defence Counsel Julius von Bóné (Counsel)

List of all hearings

Below you can find the list of all hearings in the Mustafa case. Please note that videos and transcripts will be added to the list as they become available. 

List of all public hearings in the Mustafa case
Date Type of hearing Video recording Transcript
28/09/2020 Initial appearance Video Transcript
05/10/2020 Status Conference Video Transcript
28/10/2020 Further appearance/Status Conference Video Transcript
14/12/2020 Status Conference Video Transcript
01/02/2021 Status Conference Video Transcript
05/03/2021 Status Conference Video Transcript
09/06/2021 Trial preparation conference Video Transcript
15/09/2021 Opening statements (SPO and Victims' Counsel) Video Transcript
20/09/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03593 Video Transcript
21/09/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03593 Video Transcript
22/09/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03593 Video Transcript
23/09/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witnesses W03593 and W04600 Video Transcript
24/09/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04600 Video Transcript
27/09/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04600 Video Transcript
04/10/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W01679 Video Transcript
05/10/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W01679 Video Transcript
12/10/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03594 Video Transcript
13/10/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03594 Video Transcript
14/10/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W03594 Video Transcript
02/11/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04603 Video Transcript
03/11/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04603 Video Transcript
10/11/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04669 Video Transcript
11/11/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04669 Video Transcript
17/11/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04676 Video Transcript
18/11/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04676 Video Transcript
22/11/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04391 Video Transcript
23/11/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04391 Video Transcript
24/11/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04390 Video Transcript
13/12/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04674 Video Transcript
14/12/2021 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness W04674 Video Transcript
18/01/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Fatmir Sopi Video Transcript
19/01/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Fatmir Sopi Video Transcript
25/01/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Sejdi Veseli Video Transcript
01/02/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Fatmir Humolli Video Transcript
02/02/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of SPO witness Fatmir Humolli Video Transcript
08/03/2022 Defence preparation conference/Victims' status conference Video Transcript
09/03/2022 Defence preparation conference/Victims' status conference Video Transcript
21/03/2022 Presentation of evidence by Victim’s Counsel Video Transcript
22/03/2022 Defence opening statement Video Transcript
23/03/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Brahim Mehmetaj Video Transcript
24/03/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Brahim Mehmetaj Video Transcript
28/03/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Ahmet Ademi Video Transcript
29/03/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Jakup Ismaili Video Transcript
30/03/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Hazir Borovci Video Transcript
31/03/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Hazir Borovci Video Transcript
04/04/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Gani Sopi Video Transcript
05/04/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Bislim Nreci Video Transcript
06/04/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Nazmi Vrbovci Video Transcript
11/04/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Kapllan Parduzi Video Transcript
12/04/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Nuredin Ibishi Video Transcript
13/04/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Sheqir Rrahimi Video Transcript
20/04/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Musli Halimi Video Transcript
21/04/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witnesses Musli Halimi and Selatin Krasniqi  Video Transcript
22/04/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witnesses Selatin Krasniqi and Muhamet Ajeti Video Transcript
11/05/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witness Teuta Hadri Video Transcript
12/05/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of Defence witnesses Teuta Hadri and Ibadete Canolli-Kaciu Video Transcript
19/05/2022 Trial hearing - procedural matters Video Transcript
01/06/2022 Trial hearing - testimony of an SPO's rebuttal witness Video Transcript
13/09/2022 Closing statements Video Transcript
14/09/2022 Closing statements Video Transcript
15/09/2022 Closing statements Video Transcript
16/12/2022 Pronouncement of trial judgment Video Transcript
16/02/2023 Pre-Appeal Conference Video Transcript
06/04/2023 Pronouncement of the reparation order Video Transcript
26/10/2023 Appeal Hearing Video Transcript
27/10/2023 Appeal Hearing Video Transcript
14/12/2023 Appeal Judgment Video Transcript

 

Case information

Accused: 
Salih Mustafa
Case number: 
KSC-BC-2020-05/KSC-CA-2023-02/KSC-SC-2024-02
Case stage: 

Related Documents (Protection of Legality before Supreme Court)