Karadzic Guilty

From the BBC:

"Radovan Karadzic jailed for Bosnia war Srebrenica genocide"

 

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has been convicted of genocide and war crimes during the 1992-95 war, and sentenced to 40 years in jail. UN judges in The Hague found him guilty of 10 of 11 charges, including genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Karadzic, 70, is the most senior political figure to face judgement over the violent collapse of Yugoslavia. His case is being seen as one of the most important war crimes trials since World War Two.  He had denied the charges, saying that any atrocities committed were the actions of rogue individuals, not the forces under his command. The trial, in which he represented himself, lasted eight years.  Some relatives of victims expressed disappointment at the outcome. This came too late," said Bida Smajlovic, whose husband was killed at Srebrenica.  "We were handed down a verdict in 1995. There is no sentence that could compensate for the horrors we went through or for the tears of only one mother, let alone thousands," she was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

 

Charges:

 

Genocide

• Count 1 - genocide (in municipalities of Bratunac, Foca, Klyuc, Prijedor, Sanski Most, Vlasenica and Zvornik) - not guilty
• Count 2 - genocide (in Srebrenica) - guilty

Crimes against humanity

• Count 3 - persecutions - guilty
• Count 4 - extermination - guilty
• Count 5 - murder - guilty
• Count 7 - deportation - guilty
• Count 8 - inhumane acts (forcible transfer) - guilty

Violations of the laws or customs of war

• Count 6 - murder - guilty
• Count 9 - terror (in Sarajevo) - guilty
• Count 10 - unlawful attacks on civilians (in Sarajevo) - guilty
• Count 11 - taking hostage of UN observers and peacekeepers - guilty

 

Mr Karadzic was also found guilty of orchestrating a campaign known as "ethnic cleansing" of non-Serbs from the territory of the breakaway Bosnian Serb republic, in which hundreds and thousands were driven from their homes. He would only be expected to serve two-thirds of his sentence. His time spent in detention - slightly more than seven years - will count towards the total. Top UN human rights official Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein welcomed the verdict as "hugely significant". He said the trial "should give pause to leaders across Europe and elsewhere who seek to exploit nationalist sentiments and scapegoat minorities for broader social ills". At least 100,000 people in total died during fighting in the the Bosnian war. The conflict lasted nearly four years before a US-brokered peace deal brought it to an end in 1995. Gen Ratko Mladic, who commanded Bosnian Serb forces, is also awaiting his verdict at The Hague.

 

 

^ It's "good" to see something come out of this, but there's no reason it should have lasted 8 years. Hopefully Bosnia and Herzegovina is now a step closer to overcoming the effects of the war. It has been 21 years and there is still a ways to go.  ^

 

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35893804