3 Serbs are convicted, sentenced in deadly 2008 Kosovo riots

MITROVICA, Kosovo – A Kosovo court has found three ethnic Serbs guilty of storming a U.N.-run court and inciting riots that led to the death of a Ukrainian peacekeeper in 2008.

A panel of three European Union judges convicted Marijan Ilincic and Dragan Milojevic to 22 and 18 months in prison, respectively.

The third defendant, Zoran Cavic, was given a 9-month sentence that was suspended for one year, according to the EU's rule of law mission in Kosovo, EULEX.

The suspects were cleared of charges including endangering U.N. staff.

Ethnic Serbs stormed the courthouse in Mitrovica soon after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 to prevent EULEX from replacing the U.N. administration.

Serbia rejects Kosovo's independence. Ethnic Serbs, who dominate Kosovo's north, boycott EULEX, saying it backs ethnic Albanian separatists.