Ex-Serb president cleared of war crimes

FORMER SERB president Milan Milutinovic was cleared of war crimes charges yesterday, but five prominent compatriots were convicted for their role in Belgrade’s brutal crackdown on Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians.

The United Nations court at The Hague sentenced former Yugoslav deputy prime minister Nikola Sainovic, former Yugoslav army general Nebojsa Pavkovic, and ex-Serbian police chief Sreten Lukic to 22 years each in jail for crimes against humanity and violation of the laws or customs of war.

Former Yugoslav army general Vladimir Lazarevic and ex-chief of general staff Dragoljub Ojdanic were found guilty of participating in the deportation and forcible transfer of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment.

Mr Milutinovic’s acquittal came as a blow to prosecutors, who three years ago lost their chance of convicting former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic of similar crimes when he died of a heart attack in his cell at The Hague before his trial ended.

Prosecutors had sought jail terms of between 20 years and life for the six men they accused of seeking the “modification of the ethnic balance in Kosovo in order to ensure continued Serbian control over the province”.

They were also charged with a “widespread or systematic campaign of terror and violence”, which included the forcible deportation of some 800,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo between January and June 1999, the murders of hundreds of people, sexual assault of Albanian women and destruction of cultural sites.

“The chamber is unconvinced that Milutinovic shared the intent to use criminal intent,” said judge Iain Bonomy, who added that the former president’s direct control over army units had not been proved.

“In practice, it was Milosevic, sometimes termed the ‘supreme commander’, who exercised actual command authority over the [Serb army] during the Nato campaign,” the judge said, referring to the Nato bombing operation that forced Belgrade’s troops out of Kosovo, which has just celebrated its first year as an independent state.

While the Socialist Party once run by Milosevic condemned the verdicts against his former allies, Dusan Ignjatovic, head of Serb co-operation with the UN tribunal, insisted that the “important thing to say is that the former president of the republic of Serbia was acquitted of the charges – that is really significant”.

While some in Kosovo denounced Mr Milutinovic’s acquittal, president Fatmir Sejdiu said his administration had “at all times full trust in the verdict of the international court”.