War crimes charges fabricated, KLA member tells Kosovo tribunal

[February 21, 2023]  THE HAGUE (Reuters) - A former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) member, accused of running a makeshift prison where people were abused and one man killed, told judges at the opening of his trial on Tuesday that the charges against him were fabricated.

Former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA ) member Pjeter Shala attends his trial at the Kosovo Tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands February 21, 2023. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/Pool

"I do not accept anything, it's all fabricated," Pjeter Shala told judges at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers.

Prosecutors have charged Shala with four counts of war crimes, including torture and murder. They say he was part of a criminal group that detained and severely mistreated at least 18 people it considered to be spies or collaborators with Serbs.

More than 13,000 people are believed to have died during the 1998-99 Kosovo uprising against Serbian troops led by then-President Slobodan Milosevic. The former Serbian province eventually declared independence in 2008, but Belgrade does not recognize it.

Prosecutor Alex Whiting told judges Shala committed murder by participating in the beating of a man and eventually shooting him in the leg, causing the victim to bleed to death over several hours.

"The case against Mr. Shala is very straightforward and simple even though it tragically altered the lives of many and ended the life of one," Whiting said in his opening statement.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers, a war crimes court seated in the Netherlands and staffed by international judges and lawyers, was set up in 2015 to handle cases under Kosovo law against fighters of the KLA.

It is separate from a U.N. tribunal, also located in The Hague, which prosecuted nationals from the former Yugoslavia over the 1990s Balkans wars, including several Serb officials and one former KLA member for crimes committed in the Kosovo conflict.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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