Hague frees ex-Macedonian interior minister

The Hague Tribunal has acquitted former Macedonian Interior Minister Ljube Boshkovski of war crimes charges. The Tribunal convicted police officer Johan Tarchulovski for crimes against Albanian civilians in the village of Ljuboten in the summer of 2001, for which he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Hague frees ex-Macedonian interior minister The Tribunal found Tarchulovski guilty of killing three civilians, destroying property and cruel treatment of Albanian civilian prisoners during a police attack on the village of Ljuboten near Skopje on August 12, 2001. According to the indictment, Boshkovski was accused of command responsibility for not investigating and punishing war crimes perpetrators. The trial chamber of Judge Kevin Parker (presiding) found him not guilty, stating that the police had filed a report on the events in Ljuboten to the courts, but that the courts had not investigated the matter. “Therefore, there is no proof that Boshkovski did not take the appropriate measures in investigating and punishing the perpetrators,” Judge Parker said. In finding Tarchulovski guilty, Parker said that it had been proven that despite “his relatively low rank,” he had planned and led the “reprisal” attack by the Macedonian police on Ljuboten during which three unarmed Albanian civilians were killed and ten others brutally beaten and abused, while many Albanian homes were set on fire. The attack followed the deaths of eight Macedonian police officers who perished after running over a landmine near Ljuboten, a place the government believed was an Albanian insurgent stronghold, the judge said. Parker said that the trial chamber had taken into consideration the fact that Tarchulovski had been ordered to commit the crimes and had not do so on his own initiative, even though the case was unable to confirm who had issued the orders. According to the court’s ruling, all the murdered and tortured Albanian civilians in Ljuboten had been ordinary citizens with no links to the Albanian National Liberation Army. Tarchulovski was acquitted of the murder of three other Albanians, because it could not be established whether they had been killed by the Macedonian police or military, and there was also a possibility that the three had been insurgents. Nor did the chamber take into consideration the charges in the indictment of abusing civilians in the Ljuboten police station, courts and hospital in Skopje, stating that these acts might have been committed by other police units. In May, prosecutors called for Boshkovski to be sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and Tarchulovski 12 years. The trial began in April 2007 and concluded in May 2008. Boshkovski was arrested in Croatia in August 2004, and Tarchulovski was apprehended in March 2005 and extradited to The Hague from Macedonia. Both pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Hague frees ex-Macedonian interior minister

The Tribunal found Tarchulovski guilty of killing three civilians, destroying property and cruel treatment of Albanian civilian prisoners during a police attack on the village of Ljuboten near Skopje on August 12, 2001.

According to the indictment, Boshkovski was accused of command responsibility for not investigating and punishing war crimes perpetrators. The trial chamber of Judge Kevin Parker (presiding) found him not guilty, stating that the police had filed a report on the events in Ljuboten to the courts, but that the courts had not investigated the matter.

“Therefore, there is no proof that Boshkovski did not take the appropriate measures in investigating and punishing the perpetrators,” Judge Parker said.

In finding Tarchulovski guilty, Parker said that it had been proven that despite “his relatively low rank,” he had planned and led the “reprisal” attack by the Macedonian police on Ljuboten during which three unarmed Albanian civilians were killed and ten others brutally beaten and abused, while many Albanian homes were set on fire.

The attack followed the deaths of eight Macedonian police officers who perished after running over a landmine near Ljuboten, a place the government believed was an Albanian insurgent stronghold, the judge said.

Parker said that the trial chamber had taken into consideration the fact that Tarchulovski had been ordered to commit the crimes and had not do so on his own initiative, even though the case was unable to confirm who had issued the orders.

According to the court’s ruling, all the murdered and tortured Albanian civilians in Ljuboten had been ordinary citizens with no links to the Albanian National Liberation Army.

Tarchulovski was acquitted of the murder of three other Albanians, because it could not be established whether they had been killed by the Macedonian police or military, and there was also a possibility that the three had been insurgents.

Nor did the chamber take into consideration the charges in the indictment of abusing civilians in the Ljuboten police station, courts and hospital in Skopje, stating that these acts might have been committed by other police units.

In May, prosecutors called for Boshkovski to be sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and Tarchulovski 12 years.

The trial began in April 2007 and concluded in May 2008.

Boshkovski was arrested in Croatia in August 2004, and Tarchulovski was apprehended in March 2005 and extradited to The Hague from Macedonia. Both pleaded not guilty to the charges.