Thursday, August 10, 2006

KLA Commander and Associates Convicted of War Crimes

Today, KLA commander Selim Krasniqi and two of his associates were convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison for the detention and beating of an Albanian alleged to have been collaborating with Serbs.  The crimes were said to have been committed between June and July 1998 in a prison setup in the basement of a school in the village of Drenovac. 
The UN went on alert in case the Albanian population did not take the verdict well.  PM Ceku had already made statements alluding that if a guilty verdict was given and the Albanian population demonstrated or violence broke out that the local government and KPS would not protect the UN as the defendants were "war heroes".  Fortunately, all was quiet after the verdicts were given.  Three convicted and sentenced, one acquitted, and one suspect was not found.