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Pastimes : Kosovo -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: George Papadopoulos who wrote (17079)	9/21/2000 4:54:01 PM
From: George Papadopoulos	Respond to of 17770

This one has some incredible quotes Serb Court Sentences Western Heads to 20 Years Each By Beti Bilandzic BELGRADE (Reuters) - Belgrade sentenced 14 Western leaders to 20 years in prison each Thursday for war crimes during last year's NATO (news - web sites) air strikes and said it would issue arrest warrants. President Clinton (news - web sites), Jacques Chirac of France, British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) and 11 other leaders have been on trial since Monday in the Belgrade District Court. Empty seats in the courtroom were labeled with their names. ``In the name of the people...we sentence...to individual prison terms of 20 years each,'' presiding judge Veroljub Rakitic said, reading out the 14 names to applause. He said an order was given to issue arrest warrants against them. The 14 were found guilty as charged for inciting a war of aggression, war crimes against the civilian population, use of banned weapons, attempted murder of President Slobodan Milosevic (news - web sites) and the violation of Yugoslavia's territorial integrity. Milosevic was indicted with four close aides by the International War Crimes Tribunal for former Yugoslavia for repressing ethnic Albanians in Kosovo before and during the bombing, in March to June of last year. The tribunal refused to open an investigation into allegations that NATO leaders were guilty of war crimes in the air campaign that forced Serb forces to withdraw from Kosovo. ``They fired 600 cruise missiles and made 25,119 air sorties during the 78-day aggression, attacking both military and civilian targets, killing and wounding many people and causing mass destruction of property,'' the charges read. ``During their so-called humanitarian intervention they have killed 546 soldiers and 504 civilians, of whom 88 children... They left behind them devastation in the place of modern factories, bridges, schools,'' Rakitic said. The trial began a few days before Sept. 24 elections which the Yugoslav government portrays as a choice between ''patriotism and treachery'' branding its domestic opponents traitors and NATO lackeys plotting to destroy Serbia. Accused Said Afraid To Appear Rakitic said the accused had violated the United Nations (news - web sites) Charter and described the attacks as ``an unauthorized aggression on a sovereign country.'' ``We invited the accused to come to the court and present their defense. They ignored the invitation, or were maybe afraid to face reality and their consciences,'' he said. During the three-day trial video material was presented as evidence and forensic and other reports and testimonies of survivors read out. Defense attorneys also had their say. Slavisa Mrdakovic, who was appointed to defend Chirac, said Clinton may have kept other leaders in the dark. ``If I were the judge, and it's a good thing I am not, I would...take a gun and shoot both Clinton and the other scum for all the evil they have done,'' he was quoted by independent news agency Beta as saying Wednesday. Rakitic expressed regret the penal code had not foreseen higher penalties. ``Our humane criminal code does not stipulate higher sentences because it could not be foreseen that such a crime could be committed...that is why this court is limited by the penalty and has sentenced each accused to 20 years,'' he said. Email this story - (View most popular) \| Prin