The Guardian /agencies, A former Bosnian Serb army commander was jailed for 17 years by the Hague war crimes tribunal yesterday after confessing to his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of more than 7,000 Muslims.
Dragan Obrenovic, one of two former commanders to admit his role in the massacre, pleaded guilty to one count of crimes against humanity in May.
“The trial chamber hereby sentences you to a period of 17 years' imprisonment,” Judge Liu Daqun told Obrenovic as he stood to hear his sentence for admitting persecution on political, racial and religious grounds.
Five other charges – including extermination and murder – had already been dismissed. Obrenovic was chief of staff in the Bosnian Serb army's Zvornik brigade. His fellow accused, Momir Nikolic, was jailed for 27 years this month for his role in the slaughter of Muslims after Bosnian Serb forces overran Srebrenica towards the end of the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
Prosecutors had recommended a 15- to 20-year sentence for Obrenovic. Senior Bosnian Serb commander Radislav Krstic was sentenced to 46 years in jail for genocide at Srebrenica in a landmark verdict in 2001.
The tribunal's two most wanted men, Bosnian Serb Radovan Karadzic and his military commander, Ratko Mladic, are also accused of responsibility for the Srebrenica massacre as well as for the siege of Sarajevo.
