The United Nations war crimes tribunal has indicted a rebel Serb leader for alleged human rights crimes and breaches of the customs of war in Croatia during the Balkan conflicts.

A UN war crimes tribunal today convicted wartime Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic of one count of persecution after he pleaded guilty in a deal with prosecutors and sought forgiveness from the Croatian people for his crimes.

Wartime Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic pleaded guilty today to persecution in a plan to ethnically cleanse parts of Croatia of non-Serbs at the outset of the Balkan wars, and expressed “a deep sense of shame” for his crimes.

The UN war crimes tribunal has indicted former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic for a campaign of ethnic cleansing early in the Balkan wars.