Serb war criminal jailed for 11 years

FORMER Bosnian Serb leader Biljana Plavsic, who expressed remorse for the horrors committed against non-Serbs during the Bosnian war, was sentenced yesterday to 11 years in prison.

Judge Richard May said Plavsic participated in crimes of “utmost gravity” during the 1992-’95 war in Bosnia and that “undue lenience would be misplaced”. But the court gave her credit for pleading guilty and helping to bring peace and reconciliation after the war. Plavsic, 72, is the highest-ranking politician from the former Yugoslavia to be sentenced by the court so far. Former Yugoslav President Slobodon Milosevic is on trial before the same tribunal of three judges, but that case is expected to continue for another year. The court said it took into account Plavsic’s advanced age and the testimony on her behalf by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and others, who said she had played an important part in carrying out the peace agreement negotiated in 1995 in Dayton, Ohio.

At the same time, Plavsic, who was second only to wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, closed her eyes to murder, torture and plunder, the court said. “The crimes were of the utmost gravity. That is the starting point for the determination of sentence,” May said. “Having given due weight to the factors set out, the trial chamber sentences you to a period of 11 years.”