Pjeter Shala

Two protected witnesses testified this week at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague at the war crimes trial of former Kosovo Liberation Army member Pjeter Shala, alias 'Commander Wolf', describing the poor conditions at the Kukes Metal Factory in Albania, where detainees were allegedly held and mistreated by KLA fighters in 1999.

Four witnesses testified in the war crimes trial of former Kosovo Liberation Army member Pjeter Shala, known by the nom de guerre 'Commander Wolf', at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague this week, accusing him of torture.

The first witness in the war crimes trial of former Kosovo Liberation Army member Pjeter Shala, known by the nom de guerre 'Commander Wolf', testified on Monday that his father was tortured by Shala personally at a KLA detention site at the Kukes Metal Factory in Albania in 1999.

Pjeter Shala, who was a Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA fighter during the 1998-99 conflict with Serbian forces, pleaded not guilty to war crimes at a pre-trial initial appearance at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague on Monday.

"I understood [the charges] and I find the accusations ridiculous," Shala told the judge.

Pjeter Shala, a former Kosovo Liberation Army fighter, was transferred to a detention centre in The Hague on Thursday evening after the Kosovo Specialist Chambers confirmed a four-count indictment charging him with war crimes.

Shala, 57, who was arrested in Belgium last month, is to make an initial appearance before a pre-trial judge on Monday.

The Belgian authorities on Tuesday detained Pjeter Shala, a former Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA member after the Kosovo Specialist Chambers called for his arrest on war crimes charges.

"Pjeter Shala will be detained in Belgium, pending any transfer to the detention facility of the KSC [Kosovo Specialist Chambers] in The Hague," said a statement issued by Specialist Chambers.