War crimes court reduces prison sentence for former Kosovo Serb police chief
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Yugoslav war crime tribunal has reduced the prison sentence of a former Serbian police chief, but upheld his convictions in the murder of hundreds of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo in 1999 and the expulsion of thousands of others.
The appeals judges in the Hague also ruled Monday that a court had failed to explicitly assess whether Vlastimir Djordjevic had "abused his position of authority."
The judges upheld Djordjevic's convictions for deportation, inhumane acts and murder as a war crime and as a crime against humanity, and persecution on racial grounds. But several of the instances on which they were based were struck from his record. One new persecution — for sexual assault — was added.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The court reduced his prison sentence from 27 years to 18 years.