PRISTINA -- A court in Kosovo has sentenced eight ethnic Albanian men found guilty of the attempted murder of a former politician and of plotting to kill the country's president and prime minister in 2017.
The Basic Court in Pristina on January 22 handed terms ranging from two to 12 years to the convicted, whose aim was to " seriously destabilize or destroy the political, economic, constitutional, or social structures" of Kosovo, presiding Judge Naime Krasniqi Jashanica said in the verdict.
The 70-page indictment stated that the group sought to achieve their goals by killing current and former senior Kosovar officials who had been active in politics from 1980-1991, considering them traitors.
The eight were part of a group known as People's Eye, which President Hashim Thaci and the court have described as a terrorist organization.
One of them is Murat Jashari who received a 10-year sentence for shooting at and wounding former politician and prominent lawyer Azem Vllasi on the doorstep of his house in March 2017.
Their list of targets also included Thaci, former Prime Minister Isa Mustafa, as well as religious leaders, businessmen, and journalists, the Pristina court said.
Their lawyers said they would appeal the sentences.
