EU concerned at recent Kosovo trial

The European Union has expressed concern over allegations that torture was used to extract confessions from 17 ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, who were convicted earlier this month of armed opposition to Serbian rule in the province.

In a statement issued in Luxembourg, the EU backed the defendants' appeal for a new trial, saying that human rights must be respected in Kosovo, since instability in the province threatened the whole Balkan region.

The seventeen ethnic Albanians were sentenced to prison terms of between four and 20 years for belonging to a separatist movement.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service