UN court jails ex-Yugoslav army chief for 27 years

06/09/11 16:24 CET

world news

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Momcilo Perisic, the ex-army chief of the former Yugoslavia, has been sentenced to 27 years behind bars for war crimes.

The UN tribunal in the Hague jailed him for aiding and abetting in murders, persecutions and attacks on civilians in Croatia and Bosnia in the 1990s.

That includes the Sarajevo siege and the Srebrenica massacre. Yet his acquittal on a count of extermination over the killing of 8,000 Muslim men and boys there in 1995 has left victims’ relatives furious.

“This is a shame,” said Kada Hotic whose son was killed in Srebrenica. “There will never be justice for us Muslims, never.”

Anger in Sarajevo comes amid a verdict that highlights the then Yugoslav army’s backing for breakaway Serb authorities. Perisic was also convicted of securing financial and logistical support for Serbs in both Bosnia and Croatia.

More about: Balkans, Serbia, War crimes

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