THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Belgian authorities have arrested a Kosovo war crimes suspect indicted by prosecutors at a special court in The Hague, the court announced Tuesday.
Kosovo Specialist Chambers said that Pjetёr Shala was arrested Tuesday in Belgium “pursuant to an arrest warrant and confirmed indictment related to war crimes” issued by a pre-trial judge.
The court did not immediately release any more details about Shala or the allegations against him. He is to be held in Belgium ahead of his likely transfer to the court’s detention facility in The Hague.
The Hague-based special court is investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to Kosovo’s 1998-1999 war for independence.
It has indicted suspects including former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci on charges of murder, torture and persecution linked to the conflict. Thaci denies the charges.
The court and a prosecutor’s office were established following a 2011 report by the Council of Europe, a human rights body, that included allegations that Kosovo Liberation Army fighters trafficked human organs taken from prisoners and killed Serbs and fellow ethnic Albanians.
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008, a move that Belgrade refuses to recognize.
