Macedonian ex-minister acquitted, bodyguard guilty of warcrimes

THE HAGUE (AFP) — A UN war crimes court acquitted former Macedonian interior minister Ljube Boskovski Thursday of the murder of ethnic Albanians in 2001, but convicted and jailed a former bodyguard for 12 years.

A panel of judges on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia found no evidence that Boskovski, 47, had known about crimes committed by police under the command of Johan Tarculovski in the Albanian village of Ljuboten on August 12, 2001.

They also concluded that he had not been duty bound to launch investigations into the events in which seven Albanian civilian men died.

Macedonian supporters who turned out in numbers to witness the judgement, cheered and applauded the verdict.

Boskovski's wife, Violeta, told AFP she was "happy", while a family friend said: "God is with us. Boskovski is a peaceful man, very good. We are very, very happy."

Some in the public ...