VILNIUS: A Lithuanian court on Wednesday convicted a former Soviet defence minister and dozens of other Russian citizens in absentia of war crimes over Moscow’s deadly 1991 crackdown on the Baltic state’s independence movement.Ex-minister Dmitry Yazov, now 94, was sentenced to 10 years in prison over the assault, which killed 14 civilians and wounded over 700 in January 1991.Sixty-six other defendants, who were senior officials in the military, communist party and the KGB security police, received sentences ranging from four to 14 years.Russia and Belarus have refused to extradite suspects. Moscow also rejected a Lithuanian request to question ex-Soviet leader …read more
Source: theSun
