Salih Mustafa was arrested today in Kosovo by the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, pursuant to an arrest warrant, transfer order and confirmed indictment issued by a pre-trial judge of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers.
Mr. Mustafa is being transferred to the Detention Facilities of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague and will appear before the pre-trial judge without undue delay.
The Pre-Trial Judge confirmed the indictment against Salih Mustafa on 12 June 2020. Pursuant to Rule 88(2) of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence Before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers the indictment, was not made public at that time.
The indictment, states that crimes of arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, and torture were committed between approximately 1 April 1999 and 19 April 1999 at a detention compound located in Zllash/Zlaš, Kosovo, against at least six persons. Moreover, it is stated that one detainee was murdered at that location on a date between on or about 19 April 1999 and around the end of April 1999.
The indictment, charges Salih Mustafa, under various forms of criminal responsibility, with: arbitrary detention, cruel treatment, torture and murder as war crimes committed in the context of and associated with a non-international armed conflict in Kosovo.
Under the Law on Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, police within the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office shall have the authority and responsibility to exercise powers given to Kosovo police under Kosovo law. The Law on Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office also provides that a person against whom an indictment has been confirmed shall, pursuant to an order or an arrest warrant of the Specialist Chambers, be taken into custody.
