Former Macedonian minister faces war crimes trial

Amsterdam, Apr 16: Former Macedonian interior minister Ljube Boskovski goes on trial at the UN tribunal today charged with responsibility for the murder of ethnic Albanians during a 2001 insurgency in the country.

Boskovski, the last person to be indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), is charged with three counts of violations of the laws or customs of war over an alleged police attack on civilians in the village of Ljuboten.

The case is the only one at The Hague tribunal concerning Macedonia, which broke away peacefully from Yugoslavia in 1990 but erupted in ethnic violence 11 years later.

Boskovski, 46, pleaded not guilty to charges including murder, wanton destruction and cruel treatment, in April 2005.

Prosecutors say he had control and command over the police forces in 2001 and was responsible for their actions.

He was indicted along with police officer Johan Tarculovski, 32, who is accused of leading a police unit which participated in the murder of seven Albanian men, the destruction of at least 14 Albanian houses and the abuse of more than 100 villagers.

Boskovski surrendered to the court in March 2005, while Tarculovski was handed over by Macedonia.

Boskovski was one of the toughest members of the nationalist government of Orthodox Christian Macedonia during the six-month insurgency by guerrillas of its Muslim Albanian minority.

Rebels seized control of villages in the north, igniting a conflict that took Macedonia to the brink of civil war.

Boskovski formed a paramilitary police unit known as the Lions, loyal to him alone, while Ukrainian helicopter gunships were brought in to help Macedonian forces fight the guerrillas.

Mediation by NATO and the European Union eventually stopped the fighting, leading to the 2001 Ohrid peace accord which gave greater local autonomy to the 25 percent Albanian minority.

Tarculovski pleaded not guilty to three counts of violations of the laws or customs of war. He is charged with murder, wanton destruction and cruel treatment.

Reuters