Kosovans Found Guilty Of Interfering With Witness

Former Culture Minister Astrit Haraqija was sentenced to five months in prison, while editor Bajrush Morina was sentenced to three months.

A U.N. war crimes tribunal on Wednesday found a former Kosovo Albanian minister and a newspaper editor guilty of interfering with a witness during the trial of Kosovo's former prime minister.

Former Culture Minister Astrit Haraqija was sentenced to five months in prison, while editor Bajrush Morina was sentenced to three months, the Hague-based tribunal said in a statement.

The two men were guilty of contempt of court for "having knowingly and wilfully interfered with the administration of justice by interfering with a witness whose identity had been ordered protected in the trial," the tribunal said.

In April, Kosovo's former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj was cleared of all charges of torture, rape, murder and persecution of Serbs during a 1998-99 separatist war.

But judges noted "significant difficulties encountered by the court in securing testimony of a large number of witnesses."

The contempt indictment was first filed to the court in January. Both men had pleaded not guilty to the charges in April.

According to the indictment, Haraqija had instructed Morina to travel to a witness's country of residence to persuade him not to testify. The tribunal said Morina had met the witness in July 2007 and his trip was paid by the Culture Ministry.