UN's war crime court jails first Kosovo Albanian

A war crime court under the United Nations (UN) in The Hague on Wednesday jailed the first Kosovo Albanian to be convicted of war crimes committed during the conflict with Serbian forces in 1998.

Haradin Bala received a 13-year jail term for torture and murder at a prison camp run by the Kosovo Liberation Army, reported by local press.

The UN court was set up to try war crimes and crimes against humanity from the wars in the former Yugoslavia.

Several Serbs, Croats and Bosnian Muslims have already been jailed by the court.

Serbian politicians have often accused the tribunal of failing to properly prosecute alleged war crimes by Kosovo Albanians.

Prosecutors had accused Haradin Bala of detaining 35 people - including Serbs and alleged Albanian collaborators - in the camp, where they were subjected to torture and inhumane conditions.

The presiding judge, Kevin Parker, said the prosecution had successfully proven the existence of the prison camp near Pristina and Bala's presence at the camp.

More Kosovo Albanians have since been indicted, including the former Prime Minister and guerrilla commander, Ramush Haradinaj, who is currently awaiting trial.

Source: Xinhua