Thousands rally in Kosovo against war crimes convictions of wartime leaders

PRISTINA, Kosovo -- Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Kosovo on Thursday in the biggest nationwide protest yet against recent war crimes convictions for four of its wartime rebel leaders.Earlier this month, a court in The Hague, Netherlands, found former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three other former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commanders guilty of war crimes committed during the 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia. They were sentenced to between 13 and 25 years in prison.The verdicts have sparked daily protests in the small Balkan country.Kosovo has criticized the verdicts as unjust, maintaining that the KLA, which Thaci had led before entering politics, fought against Serbian oppression. Both residents and politicians fear the court ruling would tarnish Kosovo's independence struggle.Protesters filled the central squares of the capital Pristina on Thursday, carrying banners reading “not in my name” and praising the KLA as a liberation movement. Earlier in the day, a group of citizens expressed disappointment with countries in the European Union, saying “the EU let Kosovo down” because it backs the court in The Hague.Iliriana Bullartovci, who traveled with her daug...