FACTBOX-U.N. court clears ex-Kosovo PM
April 3 (Reuters) - The United Nations war crimes tribunal cleared Kosovo's former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, on Thursday. He was accused of torturing and murdering Serbs to drive them out of the region.
Following are key facts about the court and some of its major cases:
THE COURT:
* The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established by the U.N. Security Council in May 1993.
* Based in The Hague, it was the first international body for the prosecution of war crimes since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials held in the aftermath of World War Two.
* The tribunal has jurisdiction over individuals responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the territory of the former Yugoslavia after Jan. 1, 1991.
THE CASES:
* The tribunal has indicted 161 people. At present, 45 indicted war criminals are in detention in The Hague.
* There are 50 people involved in current proceedings. Four are at large, including former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander Ratko Mladic, both charged with the genocide of Bosnian Muslims.
* Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic died in detention two years ago, just months before a verdict was due in his four-year war crimes trial on 66 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes in indictments covering the conflicts in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.
* Radislav Krstic, commander of the Bosnian Serb army's Drina Corps in 1995, was the first person convicted of genocide by the court, in a landmark verdict in August 2001. He was jailed for 46 years, but his sentence was later cut to 35, and the offence to one of aiding and abetting genocide.
* Former Bosnian Serb army commander Vidoje Blagojevic was also found guilty, in 2005, of aiding and abetting genocide, and sentenced to 18 years.
* Milan Babic, ex-leader of the rebel Serbs in Croatia's Krajina region, was jailed for 13 years in 2004 for his role in the "ethnic cleansing" of almost 80,000 Croats in 1991. He was the first notable indictee to admit his guilt, and agreed to testify against Milosevic. He committed suicide in 2006.
* His fellow Krajina Serb leader, Milan Martic, was jailed for 35 years in 2007 for his role in the same expulsions.
* Momcilo Krajisnik, former head of the Bosnian Serb parliament, was sentenced to 27 years in prison on Wednesday for a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Bosnian Muslims and Croats, but acquitted of genocide.
* Former Bosnian Serb president Biljana Plavsic was convicted in 2003 by the ICTY for her part in the persecution of Bosnian Muslims in the war from 1992 to 1995, and is serving an 11-year sentence.
* Vojislav Seselj, leader of Serbia's ultranationalist Radical Party, is currently on trial for charges including murder, torture and persecution of non-Serbs in a joint criminal enterprise with Milosevic to create a "Greater Serbia" including large parts of Bosnia and Croatia. * Ramush Haradinaj, a Kosovo Albanian who served as a regional commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during a 1998-99 war with Serbian forces before becoming Kosovo's prime minister, was tried on charges of responsibility for torture, murder, rape and deportation. He was cleared of all war crimes charges and crimes against humanity on Thursday.
Sources: Reuters, www.un.org/icty/ (For main story on Gotovina's trial, click on [nL03915119]) (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit;
Following are key facts about the court and some of its major cases:
THE COURT:
* The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was established by the U.N. Security Council in May 1993.
* Based in The Hague, it was the first international body for the prosecution of war crimes since the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials held in the aftermath of World War Two.
* The tribunal has jurisdiction over individuals responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the territory of the former Yugoslavia after Jan. 1, 1991.
THE CASES:
* The tribunal has indicted 161 people. At present, 45 indicted war criminals are in detention in The Hague.
* There are 50 people involved in current proceedings. Four are at large, including former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander Ratko Mladic, both charged with the genocide of Bosnian Muslims.
* Former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic died in detention two years ago, just months before a verdict was due in his four-year war crimes trial on 66 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes in indictments covering the conflicts in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.
* Radislav Krstic, commander of the Bosnian Serb army's Drina Corps in 1995, was the first person convicted of genocide by the court, in a landmark verdict in August 2001. He was jailed for 46 years, but his sentence was later cut to 35, and the offence to one of aiding and abetting genocide.
* Former Bosnian Serb army commander Vidoje Blagojevic was also found guilty, in 2005, of aiding and abetting genocide, and sentenced to 18 years.
* Milan Babic, ex-leader of the rebel Serbs in Croatia's Krajina region, was jailed for 13 years in 2004 for his role in the "ethnic cleansing" of almost 80,000 Croats in 1991. He was the first notable indictee to admit his guilt, and agreed to testify against Milosevic. He committed suicide in 2006.
* His fellow Krajina Serb leader, Milan Martic, was jailed for 35 years in 2007 for his role in the same expulsions.
* Momcilo Krajisnik, former head of the Bosnian Serb parliament, was sentenced to 27 years in prison on Wednesday for a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Bosnian Muslims and Croats, but acquitted of genocide.
* Former Bosnian Serb president Biljana Plavsic was convicted in 2003 by the ICTY for her part in the persecution of Bosnian Muslims in the war from 1992 to 1995, and is serving an 11-year sentence.
* Vojislav Seselj, leader of Serbia's ultranationalist Radical Party, is currently on trial for charges including murder, torture and persecution of non-Serbs in a joint criminal enterprise with Milosevic to create a "Greater Serbia" including large parts of Bosnia and Croatia. * Ramush Haradinaj, a Kosovo Albanian who served as a regional commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during a 1998-99 war with Serbian forces before becoming Kosovo's prime minister, was tried on charges of responsibility for torture, murder, rape and deportation. He was cleared of all war crimes charges and crimes against humanity on Thursday.
Sources: Reuters, www.un.org/icty/ (For main story on Gotovina's trial, click on [nL03915119]) (Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit;
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