Three ex-military convicted of wartime killings of Dutch

A FORMER defense minister in El Salvador and two retired colonels were found guilty Tuesday of the 1982 killings of four Dutch journalists during the country's civil war, a lawyer for families of the deceased said.

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A five-member jury sentenced the defendants, now in their 80s or 90s, to 15 years in prison after an 11-hour session on the first day of the trial, attorney Pedro Cruz said outside the courthouse.

In a crime that shocked the world, Koos Koster, Jan Kuiper, Hans ter Laag and Joop Willemsen were killed while filming a television documentary.

More than 75 000 people were killed in El Salvador's 1980-1992 civil war pitting the US-backed military against leftist guerrillas.

The Dutch reporters worked for IKON TV, a Dutch channel founded by several churches.