forced deportation of Kosovo 's ethnic Albanian population . The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had heard during the two year tribunal how military forces of the former Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia waged a campaign of terror against Kosovo Albanians . The court said Milutinovic did n't have `` direct individual control '' over the army and that `` in practice '' then-Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic `` exercised actual command authority '' over the army during the NATO campaign . Milosevic eventually surrendered to Serbian authorities in 2001 and had been extradited to The Hague , where he was on trial between 2002 and 2006 for the alleged offences in Kosovo and for alleged crimes in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina . He died from natural causes in March 2006 before the trial ended and before a judgment was made . He was the first sitting head of state to be charged for war crimes when he was indicted in 1999 . Kosovo 's government declared its independence from Serbia in February 2008 after being administered by the United Nations since 1999 . The U.S. , Britain and France have recognized Kosovo 's independence , but China
-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Former Serbian President Milan Milutinovic was Thursday found not guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Kosovo by a U.N. tribunal . Milan Milutinovic had was cleared of war crimes in Kosovo . Five other former high-ranking Serb officials -- Nikola Sainovic , Dragoljub Ojdanic , Nebojsa Pavkovic , Vladimir Lazarevic and Sreten Lukic -- were found guilty on all or some of the same charges . The judgment was the first by The Hague , Netherlands-based tribunal for crimes by the former Yugoslav and Serbian forces during a military campaign against Kosovo 's ethnic Albanians in 1999 . Their crimes took place during a Serb-led military campaign against Kosovo 's ethnic Albanian population during the first six months of 1999 before a NATO bombing campaign forced a halt to the operation . Sainovic , former Yugoslav deputy prime minister and Pavkovic , a former Yugoslav army general were each sentenced to 22 years in prison for crimes against humanity and war crimes . Watch Milutinovic receive not guilty verdict '' Lazarevic , another ex-general and Ojdanic , who was chief of general staff , were each sentenced to 15 years on charges of