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February 26, 2009

Hague War Crimes Tribunal Acquits Milutinovic
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=228B7DB:A6F02AD83191E160671C2F8F000F3AEBD937473925D9872C&
 
UN tribunal finds former Serbian president not guilty of crimes against
humanity; sentences five other officials to terms of up to 22 years in
prison 
Milutinovic entering courtroom of U.N. war crimes tribunal (2003 File
Photo)The United Nations war crimes tribunal has found former Serbian
President Milan Milutinovic not guilty of crimes against humanity during
the Kosovo conflict of the 1990s. But the court in The Hague sentenced
five other officials to terms of up to 22 years in prison. The court
sentenced former Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Nikola Sainovic, General
Nebojsa Pavkovic, and Serbian police General Sreten Lukic to 22-year
terms for crimes against humanity and violation of the laws or customs
of war. It gave former Yugoslav Army Chief-of-Staff Dragoljub Ojdanic,
and General Vladimir Lazarevic terms of 15 years each for the
deportation and forcible transfer of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo.
Prosecutors had sought up to life in prison for the six, accusing them
of working with former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to maintain
Serb control of Kosovo by forcibly deporting thousands of ethnic
Albanians. The case was the first trial completed by The Hague tribunal
involving atrocities by Serbian forces as they battled ethnic Albanian
separatists for control of Kosovo, a former Serbian province that
declared independence a year ago.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters


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