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Verdict on Kosovo war crimes due Verdict on Kosovo war crimes due
(about 4 hours later)
A United Nations war crimes court is due to deliver a verdict in the case of Serbian ex-President Milan Milutinovic. A United Nations war crimes tribunal is due to deliver a verdict in the case of Serbian ex-President Milan Milutinovic.
Along with five other Serbian ex-officials, he is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict in Kosovo in the 1990s.Along with five other Serbian ex-officials, he is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict in Kosovo in the 1990s.
It is the court's first ruling on crimes allegedly committed by Serbs in the Kosovo conflict. This will be the court's first ruling on alleged crimes committed by Serb forces during the Kosovo conflict.
Prosecutors in The Hague are seeking jail terms of between 20 years and life for the men, who all deny the charges.Prosecutors in The Hague are seeking jail terms of between 20 years and life for the men, who all deny the charges.
The charges in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) focus on an alleged campaign of terror and violence which included the expulsion of 800,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo. Prosecutors at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) accuse them of participating "in an alleged campaign of terror and violence directed against Kosovo Albanians and other non-Serbs in Kosovo during 1999".
The allegations also include the murders of hundreds of civilians. "The crimes... include the deportation and forcible transfer of several hundred thousand people, as well as the murder and persecution of thousands of Kosovo Albanians," the court said in a statement.
The five other defendants alongside Mr Milutinovic are: former Yugoslav deputy prime minister Nikola Sainovic, former Yugoslav army chief of staff and defence minister Dragoljub Ojdanic, ex-Yugoslav army generals Nebojsa Pavkovic and Vladimir Lazarevic, and former Serbian police public security service chief Sreten Lukic.
Lost immunityLost immunity
Mr Milutinovic was seen largely as a figurehead president of Serbia during the conflict in Kosovo, with real power in the hands of his mentor, Slobodan Milosevic, the then-President of Yugoslavia. Mr Milutinovic, 66, was seen largely as a figurehead president of Serbia during the conflict in Kosovo, with real power in the hands of his mentor, Slobodan Milosevic, the then-president of Yugoslavia.
Slobodan Milosevic died in tribunal custody in 2006, before a verdict was delivered in his own trial, giving this trial much greater significance, says BBC correspondent Helen Fawkes in Belgrade. class="" href="/1/hi/world/europe/5165708.stm">Profile: Kosovo trial accused
It is the largest case at the UN war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia that has ever reached this stage. Milosevic died in tribunal custody in 2006, before a verdict was delivered in his own trial, giving this trial much greater significance, says BBC correspondent Helen Fawkes in Belgrade.
The six defendants were on trial from July 2006 to August 2008. The trial of Mr Milutinovic and his fellow defendants is the largest case at the ICTY to have reached this stage.
The other five defendants are Serb former Yugoslav deputy prime minister Nikola Sainovic, ex-defence minister Dragoljub Ojdanic, ex-army commanders Nebojsa Pavkovic, and Vladimir Lazarevic, and former public security service chief Sreten Lukic. During the trial, which began in July 2006, UN prosecutors called 113 witnesses to testify against them, while defence lawyers called 118.
Although Mr Milutinovic was indicted during the Kosovo conflict in 1999, he served out his full five-year term as president until the end of 2002. Prosecution witnesses testified that Serb forces shelled towns and villages during the Kosovo conflict in 1999, murdered civilians and raped women as they were driven from their homes.
Although Mr Milutinovic was indicted during the conflict, he served out his full five-year term as president until the end of 2002.
It was only after he lost his immunity as president that he surrendered.It was only after he lost his immunity as president that he surrendered.
In total, the ICTY has indicted nine of the most senior Serb and Yugoslav officials for crimes alleged to have been carried out in Kosovo by Serb forces in 1999.
Vlajko Stojiljkovic, a senior police official close to Milosevic, was indicted but committed suicide in Belgrade in 2002. Vlastimir Dordevic, the former chief of Serbia's Public Security Department and a fugitive until his arrest in June 2007, went on trial on 27 January.