9 former Serbian paramilitaries have been handed down jail sentences for their role in the massacre of over 120 ethnic Albanians in 1999.
The 9 members, part of the Serbian Jackals (Šakali) paramilitary group, were found to have murdered, raped and looted 4 villages in Western Kosovo, then a province of Serbia.
Judge Snezana Nikolic Garotic ruled in her verdict,
"[The nine] committed murders, rapes and robberies in an extremely brutal way, with the main goal to spread fear among Albanian civilians in order to force them to leave their homes and flee to Albania.”
The court also judged that the men acted under the command of the then Yugoslav Army.
11 men were originally put on trial, but 2 were acquitted of all charges.
Serbia's deputy war crimes prosecutor Bruno Vekaric commented on the sentencing, stating,
"The pattern of the crime was established, the evidence was clear, the trial paved the way for more indictments but we are displeased over the two acquittals".
Kosovo’s Agim Ceku, the Minister of Security Forces and former chief of the Kosovo Liberation Army, also added,
“This is not a massacre by a group of paramilitaries that did this on this on their own… This is a massacre that was planned and executed by the state of Serbia.”