19 KOSOVO ALBANIANS SENTENCED TO A TOTAL OF 186 YEARS OF JAIL

( Editorial: --> 8736 ) PRISTINA, Dec 16 (Hina)- District court in Pristina, in Serbian region Kosovo, convicted nineteen Albanians from Kosovo to a total of 186 years of jail, on Tuesday. They have been accused for terrorism and belonging to organisation "Kosovo Liberation Army" by the Serbian government . Nait Hasani, Argon Tolaj and Arif Vokshi were penalised with 20 years of jail. The other two that were absent during the trial, Qerim Kelmendij and Hamez Panxhaj, were punished with 15 and 13 years of jail. The Court released Nezirij and Ilir Gashij because they were not proven guilty. Adem Bajri, one of the attorneys, right after the trial gave a statement to the press and indicated that the trial ended with no evidence and that it is obviously a rigged political process set up to accommodate the neccessity of the current government policy. In the middle of October, 12 days before the trial, Serbian police killed one of the accused on the run, Adrian Karsnigij. Jonez Zeneli, the other accused, died from the serious wounds given by the police. In two previous trials 35 Albanians from Kosovo were convicted to a total of 371 years of jail. After the Tuesday's verdict, Albanian politicians in Kosovo strongly disagree with Serbian government's decision to try to scare Albanians in Kosovo with jail sentences. According to the data of Kosovo Council for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, close to 300 Albanians in Kosovo were punished because of political motives since 1990. (Hina) it jn 161453 MET dec 97