2 convicted of genocide in Srebrenica killings

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2 convicted of genocide in Srebrenica killings
Judges at The Hague handed down two rare genocide convictions Thursday, sentencing two security officers for the Bosnian Serb Army to life in prison for their roles in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, the worst single episode in a decade of war that left 100,000 dead and tore the Balkans apart.

By MARLISE SIMONS
The New York Times


LEX VAN LIESHOUT / AP
Vujadin Popovic, left, and Ljubisa Beara wait for the court to hand down judgment Thursday in their genocide trial at the War Crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
PARIS — Judges at The Hague handed down two rare genocide convictions Thursday, sentencing two security officers for the Bosnian Serb Army to life in prison for their roles in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, the worst single episode in a decade of war that left 100,000 dead and tore the Balkans apart.

The two defendants convicted of genocide were Lt. Col. Vujadin Popovic, 53, and Col. Ljubisa Beara, 70.

The verdicts, along with five other war-crimes convictions, concluded an almost four-year trial in which many witnesses spoke, at times in horrifying detail, of the Serbian capture of the U.N.-protected enclaves of Srebrenica and Zepa that held tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslim refugees.

The military operation ended with the deportation of thousands of women and children and the execution of close to 8,000 men and boys.

Although the U.N. war-crimes tribunal has convicted more than a dozen people of crimes committed in Srebrenica, it has only once before issued a conviction of genocide. That ruling, against Gen. Radislav Krstic, was lessened on appeal to "aiding and abetting genocide."

Radovan Karadzic, the wartime Bosnian Serb political leader, is now being tried on charges of genocide, as is Zdravko Tolimir, a senior intelligence official.

The man widely considered to be the chief planner and organizer of the massacre, Gen. Ratko Mladic, remains a fugitive. Slobodan Milosevic, the former president of Serbia and the architect of the war, died in 2006 while his trial was under way.

Popovic, chief of security of the Drina Corps, helped to plan and organize the killing operation, separating men, organizing convoys and showing up at the major killing sites, the judges said.

"He was entrenched" in the operation and "participated with resolve," they wrote.

Beara, chief of security of the army main staff, ranked above Popovic. As the most senior security officer, "He had the clearest overall picture of the massive scale and scope of the killing operation," the judges said. He organized logistics and became the massacre's "driving force." He located detention and execution sites and recruited people to help with the killing and the digging of mass graves, court documents said.

A third Bosnian Serb Army officer, Drago Nikolic, 52, was found guilty of aiding and abetting genocide and sentenced to 35 years.

The four other defendants were convicted of crimes against humanity and other wartime atrocities. Among them were two generals: Radivoje Miletic, 62, who was sentenced to 19 years; and Milan Gvero, 72, who received a five-year prison term. Vinko Pandurevic, 50, a brigade commander, got 13 years, and Ljubomir Borovcanin, 50, a police commander, was sentenced to 17 years.

Genocide has proved difficult to prosecute. The concept, as defined in the 1948 U.N. resolution establishing the crime, goes beyond mass murder, requiring proof of "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such."

The three-judge panel at The Hague ruled that the definition had been met.

It was not clear whether any of the defendants planned to appeal.

[Seamus OBlimey]

7 February 2011 Last updated at 18:38
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Inmates 'plotted to kill' war criminal Radislav Krstic

A convicted Bosnian war criminal has told a court he was the victim of a revenge attack by three Muslim prisoners in Wakefield jail.

Radislav Krstic, 62, was serving part of his 35-year sentence in the prison for his part in the killing of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica in 1995.

He was attacked last May in what the prosecution says was a revenge mission.

Indrit Krasniqi, 23, Iliyas Khalid, 24, and Quam Ogumbiyi, 29, deny attempted murder, Leeds Crown Court was told.

All three, who are serving life sentences, also pleaded not guilty to wounding with intent to commit grievous bodily harm.

They are alleged to have entered Krstic's cell at high security Wakefield Prison on 7 May and slashed him with knives or blades.

Julian Goose QC, prosecuting, told the jury of seven women and five men that the former soldier suffered a number of injuries, including one 5in (12cm) slash across his neck.

Mr Goose said: "The motive for the attempt to murder him was as a punishment or revenge.

"This was, we say as the prosecution, a planned and determined attack in which the three defendants intended to kill Radislav Krstic.

"The three defendants are practising Muslims.

"He [Krstic] is a Bosnian Serb national who was serving a 35-year sentence for his involvement as a General-Major in the Bosnian Serb Army which killed many Bosnian Muslim men in Srebrenica in 1995.

"Mr Krstic's background was known to others within Wakefield Prison including many of the prisoners."
Washing curtains

Speaking through an interpreter, Krstic told the court how he thought he was going to die when he was attacked.

He said: "They looked at me with a scary look. I truly understood why they came. They came to kill me."

He described being pinned down by one man while the other two cut him and he started losing consciousness.

"I was just having visions of my family and pictures of them in my mind," he said.

"I thought 'it's all over and done with'."

He said he had earlier been doing his laundry and washing his curtains in his cell.

The jury was told Krstic was convicted of genocide at the International Court for the Former Yugoslavia, in The Hague, in 2001 and was sentenced to 46 years in prison.
'Flabbergasted' by killings

An appeal court reduced the conviction to aiding and abetting genocide and his sentence was cut to 35 years.

He was transferred to the UK to serve his sentence in 2004.

Icah Peart QC, defending Krasniqi, asked Krstic for more details about his conviction.

He said: "Amongst theses charges was one of the genocide of 8,100 Muslim men and boys. Is that correct?"

Krstic replied "yes" but appealed to the judge to intervene, saying he felt he was being tried again for the matters which had been dealt with.

Mr Justice Henriques told him: "The jury are entitled to know why it is you're serving a substantial prison sentence."

Krstic said he was 80km (50 miles) from Srebrenica when the killings took place and was "flabbergasted" when he heard about it.

But he said: "I said that I was morally responsibility due to the rank I was."

Mr Peart said to him: "Would you agree you have a very low opinion of Muslims?"

Krstic replied he had been brought up in an area of mixed nationalities and went to school and joined the Yugoslavian Army with Muslims.

The court heard Krasniqi is an Albanian national and Ogumbiyi is a Nigerian national.

The case was adjourned until Tuesday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-br ... e-12382433

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UN Court Slaps ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ With Life Sentence
March 20, 2019 MOLLY QUELL

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) – Following an appeal, a United Nations tribunal hiked the sentence of Radovan Karadzic, known as the Butcher of Bosnia, from 40 years to life Wednesday.


International War Crimes Tribunal investigators clear away soil and debris from dozens of Srebrenica victims buried in a mass grave near the village of Pilica, north east of Tuzla, Boisnia-Herzegovina, on Sept. 18, 1996. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia’s devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and destruction during Europe’s bloodiest carnage since World War II. United Nations appeals judges will decide Wednesday whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic’s 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. (AP Photo/Staton R. Winter, File)
Munira Subasic, president of the group Mothers of Srebrenica told reporters “I think this verdict is historical for justice.”

Mothers of some of the 8,000 men and boys massacred in Srebrenica lined up in front of the courthouse ahead of the verdict and placed banners with photos of their loved ones. Following the reading of the verdict, a group of the women confronted Karadzic’s legal team as they gathered to answer questions from reporters.

In 1990, Karadzic founded the Serb Democratic Party with the aim of unifying the Bosnian Serbian community. Prior to his involvement in politics, Karadzic was trained as a psychiatrist. He went on to serve as the president of the Republic of Srpska from 1992 to 1996.

Republika Srpska is an autonomous entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The region was previously part of Yugoslavia, a country created out of six republics by the Soviet Union following World War II. Josip Broz Tito managed to keep the country together through a dictatorship until he died in 1980, when fractures began to develop. One of the republics, Bosnia, pushed for independence in 1991, which was opposed by Karadzic.

Together with the leader of the military, Ratko Mladic, Karadzic pursued territory in other parts of the former Yugoslavia as well as a desire to eradicate Muslims and ethnic Bosniaks in the region. Mladic was sentenced to life in prison by the tribunal in 2017.

Known as the Butcher of Bosnia, Karadzic was convicted of ordering the Srebrenica massacre in which 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were rounded up and killed in the city of Srebrenica, despite the United Nations claiming the area was under U.N. protection. Karadzic was also convicted of orchestrating the siege of the capital city of Sarajevo, which lasted nearly four years – the longest in the history of modern warfare. Nearly 14,000 people died, including 5,400 civilians.

The U.N. tribunal indicted Karadzic in 1995 but he went into hiding. Authorities in Belgrade, Serbia, arrested him in 2008 after finding him living and working as a psychologist using an alias. He was extradited to the Netherlands and changed with 11 counts of war crimes before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Karadzic refused to enter a plea and insisted on representing himself, though eventually a lawyer was appointed for him by the court. After giving his lawyer time to prepare, the case resumed in 2010 with Karadzic still acting as his own counsel.

“The entire case against me is false,” Karadzic said during his closing arguments. “I really was a true friend to the Muslims.”


Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic stands in the courtroom during his initial appearance at the U.N.’s Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, on July 31, 2008. Nearly a quarter of a century since Bosnia’s devastating war ended, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic is set to hear the final judgment on whether he can be held criminally responsible for unleashing a wave of murder and destruction during Europe’s bloodiest carnage since World War II. United Nations appeals judges will decide Wednesday whether to uphold or overturn Karadzic’s 2016 convictions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and his 40-year sentence. (Jerry Lampen/Pool via AP, File)
The case took four years to complete and the court deliberated another year before finding him guilty of 10 of the 11 charges in March 2016. Karadzic appealed the 40-year sentence later that year, and his case was reviewed over two days in 2018 by the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals.

On appeal, Karadzic’s legal team pointed to a litany of errors, 48 in total, ranging from misuse of evidence to not permitting Karadzic to represent himself at trial. Karadzic also claimed he was unaware a document he signed called for “unbearable situation with no hope of further survival” in Srebrenica and said he hadn’t read the document in question fully.

The prosecution also brought an appeal, arguing the trial court failed to take into account the sentences of other defendants related to the Balkans conflict. The tribunal rejected the majority of Karadzic’s arguments, but agreed the 40-year sentence should be extended to life.

Karadzic remained stoic during the reading of the verdict, mostly staring down at the table in front of him. Presiding Judge Vagn Joensen at one point lost his place during the reading and another judge had to give him a fresh copy of the verdict before he could resume.

Reading, Joensen called the case “the largest and greatest set of crimes ever attributed to a single person before the court.”

The judge then asked Karadzic – who was flanked by two guards – to stand for the reading of the new verdict. A cheer went up in the courtroom when the judge handed down the new sentence of life, and Karadzic was remanded to custody immediately.

The U.N. set up the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in 1993 to deal with the war crimes that took place during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s. Over the course of its 14-year history, the tribunal indicted 161 people, of which 90 were convicted and sentenced.

The court was closed in 2017, and appeals put forth after its closing have been overseen by the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals.
https://www.courthousenews.com/un-court ... -sentence/