Seven former Bosnian Serb military and police officials were convicted of war crimes on Thursday in The Hague by a U.N. tribunal and sentenced to long-term imprisonment.
Two high-ranking members of the Bosnian Serb army, Vujadin Popovic and Ljubisa Beara, were found guilty of genocide, extermination, murder, and persecution in the infamous Srebrenica massacre. Both men received the life sentences from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Col. Popovic was named as one of the major participants of the Srebrenica massacre. “He was found to have been present at a number of sites where captured Bosnian Muslims were detained or executed between July 13 and 23,” the court said.
Ljubisa Beara, chief of Security in the Bosnian Serb army, personally visited several execution sites. “His vigorous efforts to organize locations and sites, recruit personnel, secure equipment, and oversee executions all evidence his grim determination to kill as many as possible as quickly as possible,” described his action said the Hague Tribunal.
Five other military and police officials were jailed for between 5 and 35 years.
Two high-ranking members of the Bosnian Serb army, Vujadin Popovic and Ljubisa Beara, were found guilty of genocide, extermination, murder, and persecution in the infamous Srebrenica massacre. Both men received the life sentences from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Col. Popovic was named as one of the major participants of the Srebrenica massacre. “He was found to have been present at a number of sites where captured Bosnian Muslims were detained or executed between July 13 and 23,” the court said.
Ljubisa Beara, chief of Security in the Bosnian Serb army, personally visited several execution sites. “His vigorous efforts to organize locations and sites, recruit personnel, secure equipment, and oversee executions all evidence his grim determination to kill as many as possible as quickly as possible,” described his action said the Hague Tribunal.
Five other military and police officials were jailed for between 5 and 35 years.
“The scale and nature of the murder operation, with the staggering number of killings, the systematic and organized manner in which it was carried out, the targeting and relentless pursuit of the victims, and the plain intention—apparent from the evidence—to eliminate every Bosnian Muslim male who was captured or surrendered proves beyond reasonable doubt that this was genocide,” the tribunal said.
The crimes were committed against Bosnian Muslims in 1995 when the Serb troops entered the United Nations safe areas in the Srebrenica and Zepa, which held refugees. The killing is considered to be the worst massacre on the European continent since the second world war.
The Tribunal, established to investigate Balkan war crimes, found that more than 5,300 identified people were killed in the execution in Srebrenica, but estimates of total dead are well above the 7,800.
The verdict at the Hague court ended the four-year trial, the largest one of the tribunal.
The political leader at the time, Radovan Karadzic, is being tried on charges of genocide. Former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic died during his trial in 2006.
The crimes were committed against Bosnian Muslims in 1995 when the Serb troops entered the United Nations safe areas in the Srebrenica and Zepa, which held refugees. The killing is considered to be the worst massacre on the European continent since the second world war.
The Tribunal, established to investigate Balkan war crimes, found that more than 5,300 identified people were killed in the execution in Srebrenica, but estimates of total dead are well above the 7,800.
The verdict at the Hague court ended the four-year trial, the largest one of the tribunal.
The political leader at the time, Radovan Karadzic, is being tried on charges of genocide. Former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic died during his trial in 2006.
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