Bosnian Serb General Zdravko Tolimir, serving a life sentence for genocide during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, has died in detention in the Hague
ADVERTISEMENTBosnian Serb General Zdravko Tolimir, serving a life sentence for genocide during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, has died in detention in the Hague.
The 67-year-old was convicted in 2012 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. His sentence was upheld at an appeal hearing last year.
The former head of military intelligence in the Bosnian Serb army, he reported directly to its Commander General Ratko Mladic, whose war crimes trial continues.
Tolimir was convicted over his role in the slaughter of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995 – Europe’s worst massacre since the Second World War.
Zdravko Tolimir passed away in Detention Unit: https://t.co/7VQXadhnINpic.twitter.com/cEVVHUrknM
— ICTY (@ICTYnews) 9 Février 2016
He was known to be in poor health although the cause of his death has not been disclosed. He was noticeably frail at his last public appearance in April, having earlier told the court that he had had four stents placed in his heart.
Tolimir had been awaiting transfer to a prison in one of the court’s sponsoring countries when he died.