UN tribunal sentences ex-Serbia army chief to 27 years

THE UN’s Yugoslavia war crimes tribunal has sentenced former Serbia army chief Momcilo Perisic to 27 years in jail for murder, persecution and attacks on civilians in Bosnia and Croatia in the 1990s.

Perisic, 67, was found guilty of helping Serb troops plan and carry out war crimes — including the killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica — and of the 42-month siege of Sarajevo. He was also convicted of securing financial and logistical support for Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia.

Perisic is the first Belgrade official convicted over Serbia’s role in the wars in Bosnia and Croatia — a role the Serb government has always denied.

Judge Bakone Justice Moloto said: “Momcilo Perisic was found criminally responsible for aiding and abetting murder, inhumane acts, attacks on civilians and persecution on political, racial or religious grounds in Sarajevo and Srebrenica.”

He said Perisic oversaw logistical assistance to Serbs in Bosnia and Croatia which included a “vast quantity of infantry and artillery ammunition, fuel, spare parts, training and technical assistance”.

The court found Perisic bore responsibility for the shelling of Zagreb in 1995.

Serbia defence minister Dragan Sutanovac said the sentence was “too grave”.

Perisic had kept Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic on the Yugoslav army payroll and signed his promotion to colonel general in 1994. Mladic has been indicted for genocide by the tribunal and was arrested in May.

But the court did not find Perisic had command authority over Mladic.