Bosnian Serbs jailed for Srebenica massacre

Two former Bosnian Serb army commanders have been jailed for their role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim…

Two former Bosnian Serb army commanders have been jailed for their role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys.

Vidoje Blagojevic was found guilty by the UN war crimes tribunal in the Hague of complicity in genocide by aiding and abetting the crime and of aiding and abetting murder, persecutions and inhumane acts. He was sentenced to 18 years in jail.

Dragan Jokic was convicted of aiding and abetting murder and persecutions and extermination and was given a nine-year sentence. Both were given credit for time already spent in detention.

Thousands of Muslim men and boys were slaughtered after the UN's "safe area" of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia fell to Serb forces in July 1995. The killings became one of the most notorious episodes of the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

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"The horrible crimes committed following the fall of Srebrenica are well known," the court said in a summary of the judgement. "These crimes were committed in little more than one week with a level of brutality and depravity not previously seen in the conflict in Yugoslavia and are among the darkest days in modern European history."

Blagojevic and Jokic were part of a group of four jointly indicted for the Srebrenica killings, Europe's worst massacre since World War Two.  Both had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The two other defendants in the case had reached plea agreements with prosecutors. Dragan Obrenovic received a 17-year prison sentence and Momir Nikolic a 27-year sentence in 2003 after pleading guilty to persecution.