Subject: OSCE concerned at 14-year genocide sentence for Kosovo Serb
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2001 15:10:08 PST
From: C-afp@... (AFP)
Organization: Copyright 2001 by Agence France-Presse (via ClariNet)
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PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, Jan 19 (AFP) - A court in the northern
town Kosovska Mitrovica sentenced a Serb man to 14 years in prison
for genocide, a verdict criticised by the Organisation for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Miroslav Vuckovic, 52, was found guilty of having waged a terror
campaign among the Albanian community in two villages during the
1999 NATO bombing campaign, the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) said
Friday.
But the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) called in a statement for a review of the case.
"The OSCE is very concerned with his conviction, which they
believe is inconsistent with the evidence heard in the court," the
statement said.
Vuckovic's lawyers also contested the genocide charge, and
questioned the competence of the court to try such a charge.
International observers have described the charge as
"disproportionate", with one UN official describing it as
"grotesque."
The court in Mitrovica was comprised of four ethnic Albanian and
one international judge, Krister Karphammer of Sweden.
UNMIK spokeswoman Susan Manuel said that although Vuckovic had
been found guilty of genocide, he had been acquitted on two murder
charges.
"He was found guilty of looting and burning shops and houses and
chasing people out of the two village," she added. He had terrorised
the community, destroying several houses and properties, she added.
Vuckovic, 52, has been in prison since August 23, 1999. He
pleaded not guilty to the charges and has said he will appeal to the
verdict.
According to a new law, voted in December 1999, he would be
tried in another court by a tribunal of international judges.
His conviction was the first on genocide charges in Kosovo, and
the first in Yugoslavia since World War II.
The justice system in Kosovo, installed by the UN, which has
administrated the province since the end of the war in June 1999,
has been criticized by the Serbs in the province for lack of
impartiality of the Albanian judges.