Former Kosovo rebel commander convicted of 1999 murder

A former commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army was found guilty Friday of arbitrarily detaining and torturing prisoners perceived as supporters of Serbia during the country’s conflict to break away from Serbia, and murdering one of them.
It is a “milestone” first war crimes conviction by a special court based in the Netherlands.
The commander, Salih Mustafa, was 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. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Mustafa, wearing a suit and tie, stood in silence as Presiding Judge Mappie Veldt-Foglia pronounced the verdicts and his sentence.