Special Court to verify Salih Mustaf's assets to compensate victims

Until the Kosovo state gave no indication that it will make compensation to the victims who receive this status in judicial processes in Kosovo's Specialised Chambers in The Hague, they have said they will make a verification of Mustafa's assets.

When the Kosovo Special Court ruled that Sali Mustafa, convicted of war crimes, is obliged to compensate for the victims in the amount of 207 thousand euros, they had found he does not own means to make this payment.

But for that already, the Special Court has demanded that the degree be determined to what extent the compensation of victims from Mustafa himself may occur, thus verifying the property he has.

From the Specialised Chambers in The Hague, in a response to Dukagjin have confirmed that the victims will be directed for compensation to authorities in Kosovo.

The bulk of the information about the decision on damages in Salih Mustaf's case is not yet public. In April 2023, the Judiciary Panel ordered Mr. Mustafa pay a total of 207,000 euros in damages to the damage inflicted on crime victims, for which he has been convicted. Eight acts have participated in this case and based on the decision, they will benefit by different sums from the decision. In case Mr. Mustafa is unable to pay compensation, the Judge's panel in the decision for reprobation has presented a number of possibilities under which other acts -- including Kosovo -- can be included to enable victims to access damages in January 17th, 2024 -- KSC President Trendafilova has appointed Judge Gilbert Bitti as the sole judge to monitor implementation by the receipt of the verdict for damages<1>.

In his March decision of this year, the judge invited Mr. Mustafa made voluntary payment and ordered the manager to inform him of the modalities on this. He has also issued decisions regarding Mr. Mustafa, who would be used for partial implementation of the decision on the basis of proportional payments to victims. The judge instructed the manager, once these partial payments are accepted, to consult the lawyer of the victims in the most effective way of handing over funds to each victim. The judge has suggested that prior to the surrender of any potential app for the Kosovo Crime Victims Compensation Programme, it should be determined whether and to what extent Mustafa can pay his own compensation according to the court's order within a reasonable period of”, the Specialised Chambers for Kosovo have declared.

In Mustafa's case, eight victims have been confirmed.

So many victims have also participated in the trial process against Peter Shala, also convicted of war crimes.

While no bail has been issued in this case.

Challenger and problematic compensation for war victims is seen at the Humanitarian Law Fund, which say property verification should be done in co-operation with authorities in Kosovo.

If they make any verification to the accused they also need help with Kosovo's organs, in order to become what playable or real estate the accused possess, because they in the case of pronouncing the order whether the person is accused or the fund should be repaid”, Amer Alija from the Fund for Humanitarian Law has said.

In December 2022, former Kosovo Liberation Army Commander Salih Mustafa was sentenced to war crimes to 26 years in prison for unlawful murder, arbitrary detention and torture, while in September of this year, Appealy reduced his sentence to 15 years in prison. /Dukagini/