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

By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Appeals judges at a special Kosovo court have upheld 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. The appeals panel cut his sentence by four years in its ruling Thursday, saying it was higher than comparable international and domestic court sentences for similar offenses. The commander, Salih Mustafa, was convicted a year ago and sentenced to 26 years’ imprisonment for the crimes committed at a KLA compound in Zllash, Kosovo, in April 1999. He was acquitted of one charge of mistreating detainees who were perceived as supporters of Serbia.