Three Serbs Jailed Over Deadly Riots

A panel of European Union judges has sentenced three Kosovo Serbs to jail over their role in the 2008 violence that led to the death of a Ukrainian officer from the UN police force.

The panel of three judges from the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) on March 28 jailed Marijan Ilincic and Dragan Milojevic for 22 and 18 months, respectively.

The two men were involved in rioting by ethnic Serbs in the northern town of Mitrovica in March 2008.

The violence came one month after majority ethnic Albnanian Kosovo declared independence from Serbia.

A third defendant, Zoran Cavic, was given a suspended sentence.

The announcement of the verdicts was delayed for several hours as several hundred Serbs blocked the court building in Mitrovica in protest.

Serbia rejects Kosovo's independence.
Based on reporting by AP and AFP