Serbian Officials Reportedly Free 23 Ethnic Albanian Prisoners

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia —  Serbian officials on Tuesday freed 23 ethnic Albanians just outside Kosovo in the largest single release of such prisoners in weeks, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

The prisoners walked to Kosovo across the border at Merdare. They were accompanied by Red Cross officials, who took them to meet family members in Pristina, Kosovo’s provincial capital.

It was unclear whether the prisoners had been tried and sentenced, or had been awaiting trial.

While in Kosovo, Serbian troops arrested hundreds of ethnic Albanians and then transferred them out of the province when North Atlantic Treaty Organization bombs drove the forces to withdraw last June.

Ethnic Albanians have repeatedly demonstrated for the prisoners’ release and promised no peace in Kosovo until they are all freed.

So far, 911 prisoners have been released, but 1,188 remain imprisoned by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic’s government.

Meanwhile, in Nis, an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo was found guilty of terrorism Tuesday and sentenced to 10 years in prison for attacks on Serbian police and Yugoslav soldiers.

Six others were sentenced to one year each on charges of aiding rebels of the Kosovo Liberation Army but were released to account for time served in pretrial custody.

The court in Nis found Abaz Mujota, 28, guilty of “terrorism and conspiracy to act against the state.”

Mujota allegedly joined the former KLA rebels in May 1999 to fight for Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, the dominant Yugoslav republic.