Former Kosovo rebel chief sentenced to 18 years in prison

Former Kosovo rebel commander Pjeter Shala was on Tuesday sentenced to 18 years in prison by judges in The Hague.

He was convicted of war crimes committed while he fought for the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during a 1998-99 uprising against Serbian troops.

The decision came from an EU-backed court in the Dutch city that is considered part of Kosovo's judicial system but focuses on crimes committed from the beginning of 1998 to the end of 2000.

What was Shala convicted of?

Shala, known by the nickname "Wolf," was a local military leader in western Kosovo during a conflict when ethnic Albanian KLA rebels fought forces loyal to Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic.

The commander was convicted of the arbitrary detention of at least 18 ethnic Albanian civilians who he had accused of working as spies or collaborating with Serbian forces.

The victims were detained at a makeshift jail at a metal factory in Kukes in northern Albania.

"The panel finds beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Shala is guilty," of murder, torture and arbitrary detention, Presiding Judge Mappie Veldt-Foglia said.

"The murder victim died while still in detention ... as a result of being shot, and subsequently being denied appropriate medical treatment, and the other detainees were forced to witness his terrible agony before he died," she said.

She said that the court had received compelling eyewitness accounts of the abuse despite "a backdrop of a persistent climate of witness intimidation."

Shala repeatedly rejected the charges. His lawyers argued that he was not present when the crimes were committed.

What was the war in Kosovo?

More than 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, are believed to have died during the war in Kosovo between the KLA and forces loyal to Belgrade.

Kosovo declared its secession from Serbia in 2008 and over 100 countries have since recognized Pristina's sovereignty. Serbia does not recognize the former province's independence.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers, a war crimes court seated in the Hague, was set up in 2015 to handle cases under Kosovo law against KLA fighters.

A separate Hague-based UN tribunal deals with war crimes cases from former Yugoslavia, including several Serb officials and one former KLA member accused of committing abuses in the Kosovo conflict.

sdi/ab (Reuters, AFP, AP)