Shala seeks postponement of session for appointment of bail order or not to attend

The reason for this request is that on the day the date was set for the declaration of the bail order Shala was ordered to be physically in the courtroom, on the same day the defence had informed the panel that the defendant had a confirmed six-person visit.

According to the parachute, these six people will travel from abroad to The Hague and the meeting will be held at detention facilities on the same day that sessions are scheduled, reports “Justice Trust”.

“The shield requested from the panel that either allow Mr. Shala give up the right to participate in the session and be represented by his protector, or, as an alternative, replanning the Order's proclamation of compensation damages to another appropriate date, so that Mr. Shala can personally participate”, says the statement.

According to defence, three of the visitors will meet Shala in the morning and three others by day, adding that it is difficult to re-planned.

“Z. Shala has a confirmed and predetermined visit with six individuals travelling abroad to meet with her at DSK detention facilities on November 29, 2024. Three visitors will visit him in the morning and three more in the afternoon. This visit has called for a lot of co-ordination and logistics between the different parties, and, unfortunately, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to reconfigure”, it says.

Also, in its presentation, the defence has mentioned that for the past few months, due to the personal visiting regime, Shala has received only one session of personal visits. Therefore, according to them, cancelling the planned November 29th visit would add concerns to Shala.

The planned “Visita on November 29, 2024 is the only personal visit that Mr. Shala has planned for the near future and represents one of the rare cases Mr. Shala may have contact with the outside world and receive psychological, moral, and financial support. The meeting is therefore very important for Mr. Shala and her cancellation would add further concerns”, the request said.

Under the defence request, Shala is said to be fully committed to participate in the session for announcing the penalty order in the event it is set on another date.

Otherwise, it is decided on November 25th 2024 that Peter Shala's defense will hand over its final file for Appeal of the Foundation's decision, which sentenced him to 18 years in prison for war crimes.

On July 16th, Peter Shala has been sentenced to 18 years in prison, where he was found to be guilty of points 1, 3 and 4 of the prosecution.

Shala was found guilty of detaining Arbytrar as a war crime against at least 18 people in the period between May 17th 1999 and June 5th of that year at the Metali Fabric in Kukes, torture as a war crime against at least 18 people and unlawful murder as a war crime against one person.

Otherwise, during February 2023, the trial had begun on this occasion, where on February 21st the prosecution and the defense of the victims have submitted their opening statements, while on February 22nd they have heard Peter Shala's opening statements of defense as well as statements without his oath.

In March 2023 the presentation of the prosecution's evidence had begun, where 10 witnesses were heard, and in August had begun presenting evidence from the defender of the victims where two witnesses were heard.

Peter Shala was arrested on March 16, 2021, by Belgian authorities and transferred to The Hague on April 15, 2021, on the basis of a request for co-operation in implementing the warrant and order for transfer issued by Kosovo's Specialised Chambers.

In the confirmed indictment, Shala is charged with individual criminal responsibility in various forms of war crimes as arbitrary bans, cruel treatment, torture and illegal murder committed in the context of the armed conflict in Kosovo and in connection with this conflict.

The “commands that Mr. Shala was carried out approximately between May 17th 1999 and June 5, 1999, against persons who were held in the metal factory in Kukes (Albania), allegedly used by the Kosovo Liberation Army”, it is said in the communique.