Pristina, 16 July 2003 (RFE/RL) -- A Kosovo court today jailed an ethnic Albanian former Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) commander and three others for war crimes committed during the 1998-99 conflict. The court sentenced former guerilla chief Rustem Mustafa to 17 years in prison. The three co-defendants received 13, 10, and five years.
All four were convicted of crimes including the illegal detention, inhumane treatment, torture, and murder of ethnic Albanians suspected of collaborating with Serbian officials during the conflict.
It's the first conviction of Kosovo rebels on war crimes since the end of the conflict between Serbian forces under then-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Kosovo Albanians in 1999.
All four were convicted of crimes including the illegal detention, inhumane treatment, torture, and murder of ethnic Albanians suspected of collaborating with Serbian officials during the conflict.
It's the first conviction of Kosovo rebels on war crimes since the end of the conflict between Serbian forces under then-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and Kosovo Albanians in 1999.