Bosnian Serb gets 27 years for Srebrenica massacre
Reuters, Amsterdam
UN war crimes judges sentenced a former Bosnian Serb army commander to 27 years' imprisonment yesterday for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of up to 8,000 Muslims -- a stiffer sentence than even prosecutors requested. Momir Nikolic, 48, pleaded guilty in May to one count of crimes against humanity for persecuting non-Serbs in Europe's worst atrocity since World War II. In return for his plea, prosecutors dropped four other charges. Nikolic was an assistant intelligence commander in the Bratunac Brigade that encircled the U.N.-declared "safe area" of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia. Under the plea deal, prosecutors agreed to request a 15- to -20-year sentence and the defense said it would recommend 10 years. Judge Liu Daqun said neither term was sufficient. "Neither sentence adequately reflects the totality of the criminal conduct for which Momir Nikolic has been convicted," the judge told the court, saying the Srebrenica massacre was "committed with a level of brutality and depravity not seen previously in the conflict in former Yugoslavia."
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