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Bosnia: Serbian Commander Found Guilty of War Crimes

The Bosnian war crimes court jailed a Bosnian Serb wartime commander for 25 years on Friday for ordering a mortar attack in 1995 on a northern town that killed 71 people and wounded more than 150. Novak Djukic was found guilty of war crimes against civilians and of violations of international law and the Geneva Conventions, the court council in Sarajevo said. Darko Samardzic, the court council president, read the verdict. He said, “One missile hit the very center of the town, Kapija, killing 71 people and injuring more than 150.” He said that all 221 of them were civilians. Relatives cried as he read the names of those killed and wounded. Most victims were between the ages of 18 and 25. The youngest was a 2-year-old, hit while in his father’s arms. Mr. Djukic was a commander of the Bosnian Serb Army in the Tuzla region during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. Tuzla was declared a United Nations safe zone in 1993.
Read entire article at Reuters