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| Europe |
| BOSNIA: SERB SENTENCED TO 37 YEARS FOR WAR CRIMES |
| 2007-02-17 |
| (AKI) – A Bosnian court sentenced on Friday Gojko Jankovic to 37 years in jail for crimes against Muslim civilians during Bosnia’s 1992-1995 civil war. Jankovic, a Bosnian Serb, was indicted by the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for crimes committed in the southeastern town of Foca, but the ICTY, which plans to complete its work by 2010, has turned the case to a local court. According to the indictment, Jankovic commanded a Serb paramilitary unit in Foca in 1992-1993, and is responsible for several murders, the forced resettlement of local Muslims and for the rape of at least one Muslim woman. The ICTY has indicted over 150 people, mostly Serbs, for crimes allegedly committed during last decade Balkan wars, and more than thirty have been convicted so far. In an effort to clear its docket and end work by 2010, the tribunal has turned five cases to local courts and Jankovic’s verdict is the harshest sentence pronounced so far. His lawyers said they would appeal the sentence. |
| Posted by:Fred |