Bulgaria Sentences Notorious Roma Boss

Rashkov was found guilty by the court in the southern Bulgarian town of Asenovgrad late on Monday of threatening to kill Veselin Hristov and Ivanka Petrova.

Hours after the threats were made in September 2011, men linked to Rashkov ran over and killed a local ethnic Bulgarian boy in the village of Katunitsa. 19-year-old Angel Petrov is believed to have been killed because of a conflict with Rashkov's Roma clan.

The murder shook Bulgaria and led to massive anti-Roma protests.

Thousands of people, many of them nationalist demonstrators, marched for a week in October to protest what they call the "privileged position" of the Roma in Bulgaria, saying that the country's institutions are unable to cope with clan-based crime.

In addition to the demonstrations, houses were set alight in Katunista and cars belonging to Rashkov were destroyed.

Locals from Katunitsa village waiting to hear Rashkov's sentence in Asenovgrad on Monday said that they are satisfied with the verdict but that it will not compensate for the fear and pain they have suffered, claiming that Rashkov and his grandsons have terrorized and intimidated the entire village.

The court verdict was based on the testimonies of 12 witnesses, and CCTV footage which has no sound but shows a man in a black jeep parked before the home of Hristova and Petrov gesturing angrily.