Macedonia: Ethnic Albanians clash with police

SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) — Hundreds of stone-throwing ethnic Albanians protesting a court ruling clashed Friday with Macedonian police, who fired water cannon and tear gas at the crowd to prevent them from storming a court building.

Police said about 2,000 people gathered in Macedonia’s capital, Skopje, to protest the life sentences imposed this week on six ethnic Albanian Muslims convicted of murdering five Christian fishermen, in an alleged plot to destabilize the country. The six men deny the charges and their lawyers said there was no material evidence against them.