[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website] Thursday upheld [judgment summary; press release] a 2005 lower court ruling [JURIST report] acquitting two Kosovo Albanians and convicting one other for their alleged actions at a prison camp run by the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) [BBC backgrounder] during its open rebellion against Serbian forces in 1998. The ICTY specifically rejected the appeal of Haradin Bala, a commander and guard at the Lapusnik prison camp, who was originally sentenced to 13 years in prison on charges of torture, cruel treatment and murder. The ICTY also affirmed the 2005 acquittal of Bala's co-defendants, Fatmir Limaj and Isak Musliu, on charges of committing murder, torture and inhumane acts.

In 2003, Bala, Limaj and Musliu were the first Kosovo Albanians indicted [BBC report] for crimes committed during the KLA rebellion. The three men originally went on trial [JURIST report; ICTY case backgrounder] before the ICTY in late 2004. Reuters has more.