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Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity

  • paull_nl

    • Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić was sentenced to 40 years in prison for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Bosnia in the 1990s.

    The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, based in The Hague announced its verdict and sentence on Thursday. The court found the former political leader of the Serbs in Bosnia guilty of 10 charges, including genocide in his capacity as President of Republika Srpska between 1992 and 1996.

    Genocide, crimes against humanity and other war crimes committed during the Bosnian civil war left over 100,000 dead.

    Karadžić’s convictions were for one count of genocide, five counts of crimes against humanity and four of war crimes, including murder, holding UN peacekeepers hostage and deporting civilians.

    Karadžić was found not guilty on one genocide charge.

    The Srebrenica massacre, a genocidal killing of over 8,000 Bosnian Muslims by the Bosnian Serb Army, occurred in July 1995. It was part of an ethnic cleansing operation that removed over 20,000 civilians with force and terror.

    Karadžić, who is now 70 years old, became president of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, one month after the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from former Yugoslavia.

    He was arrested in Belgrade 8 years ago after spending 12 years as a fugitive. While on the run he worked as psychiatrist and therapist using the alias Dr. Dragan David Dabić .

    Since his arrest in July 2008 he has been in the custody of ICTY in the U.N. Detention Unit in Scheveningen, near The Hague, Netherlands.

    Karadžić’s trial began in April 2010 and is seen as one of the most important war crimes trials since World War Two.

    Karadžić and general Mladic near Srebrenica in 1995 (Photo: Reuters)

    (Image: Getty/Reuters)

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