War crimes general gets sentence cut by 11 years

IN a key decision, the UN war crimes tribunal court rejected a defence argument that the killing of 7,500 men in the UN-protected zone of Srebrenica in July 1995 did not amount to genocide, and said that the crime “should be called by its proper name”.

The appeals chamber of the court reduced the blame on Bosnian Serb general Radislav Krstic for genocide at Srebrenica and lowered his sentence by 11 years to 35 years in prison.

Krstic, 56, was convicted in 2001 of genocide. It is the only conviction handed down for the worst of crimes since the Yugoslav tribunal was created in 1993.

The appeals court overturned the conviction as being a “principal perpetrator” of genocide.

But it said Radislav Krstic had knowledge that thousands of Muslims were being executed, and the involvement of his troops in their deaths, meant he was guilty of “aiding and abetting genocide”, which is a lesser crime.

“While his crime is undoubtedly grave, the finding that he lacked genocidal intent significantly diminishes his responsibility,” judge Theodore Meron said.