The Court of Appeal Panel today approved, by majority, one aspect of Mustafa's appeal against the Single Judge's decision of 16 July 2025 regarding the payment of interest in relation to the Compensation Order.

The Panel found, with the partly dissenting opinion of Judge Pikar, that, by ordering the interest rate to be paid on the unpaid amount of compensation from the date of the judgment, the Single Judge acted outside the scope of his powers and, consequently, reversed the decision as regards the application of the interest rate and the reporting obligations relating thereto.

Salih Mustafa was a commander of the BIA guerrilla unit operating within the Llapi Operational Zone of the Kosovo Liberation Army ('KLA'). The trial took place from 15 September 2021 to 15 September 2022.

The verdict was announced on 16 December 2022, Mustafa was found guilty of the war crimes of arbitrary detention, torture and unlawful killing and sentenced to 26 years in prison. On 5 April 2023, the Trial Chamber ordered Mustafa to pay a total of 207.000 euros in compensation for the damage caused to the victims of the crimes for which he was found guilty.

On December 14, 2023, the Appeals Court Panel reduced his sentence to 22 years in prison. Following the Supreme Court's decision on July 29, 2024, the case was referred back to the Appeals Panel to consider the reduction of the sentence.

On September 10, 2024, the Appeals Court Panel imposed a new unified sentence of 15 years, including time served in pre-trial detention. There were 8 victims involved in this court case.

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