Vassili Makarovich Kononov or Vasiliy Makarovich Kononov (, ; 1 January 192331 March 2011) was a Soviet partisan during World War II, who was convicted by the Supreme Court of Latvia as a war criminal. He is the only former Soviet partisan convicted of crimes against humanity. Kononov was convicted for his role in three deaths in Mazie Bati, a Latvian village where local inhabitants had denounced alleged partisans who were then killed by German troops. A short time later Kononov led a unit, posing as German Wehrmacht personnel, into the village and killed nine civilians, including three women, one in the late stages of pregnancy who was burned alive. A Latvian court declared the killing of the three women a war crime. Mazie Bati On 29 February 1944, Latvian villagers from Mazie Bati (in Russian sources: Малые Баты (Malye Baty)) allowed 12 men from the Soviet reconnaissance-sabotage group to stay in their barns. The next day, at six in the morning, the Germans, who Kononov suspected the villagers of aiding, burned and machine-gunned the barns. All 12 partisans, including the leader Major Chugunov, his wife Antonina and their 7-month-old son, were killed. On 27 May 1944, a detachment of the Soviet First Latvian Partisan Battalion led by Kononov staged a "counter operation" against the village of Mazie Bati. In this operation, nine villagers were accused of being the "German auxiliaries" (the Latvian armed resistance against the Soviet occupation of Latvia sided with the German invaders in 1941) responsible for the prior incident. Kononov's men were sent to capture the villagers pursuant to an ad-hoc Military Tribunal verdict. Kononov and his men conducted the operation wearing German Wehrmacht uniforms so as not to arouse the suspicion of the villagers. Nine villagers were killed, including three women, one in the late stages of pregnancy who was burned alive. Buildings were burned as well. War crime prosecution Original conviction and dismissal In July 1998, original proceedings against Kononov were commenced by the Latvian Principal Public Prosecutor's Office, whereby in August 1998 he was formally charged and ultimately indicted in December 1998. Kononov pleaded not guilty at the trial which began in January 1999. Ample evidence of guilt was found by the court where Kononov was in violation of the Charter of the International Military Tribunal ("IMT") Nuremberg, the Hague Convention (IV) 1907 and the Geneva Convention (IV) 1949. He was found guilty