Bosnian Serb found guilty of rapes, torture

Bosnia's war crimes court today sentenced a former Bosnian Serb soldier to 16 years in prison for the serial rape, enslavement…

Bosnia's war crimes court today sentenced a former Bosnian Serb soldier to 16 years in prison for the serial rape, enslavement and torture of civilians in the 1992-95 Bosnia war.

Radovan Stankovic was the first defendant sent from the United Nations war crimes court in The Hague to be tried in Bosnia.

He was found guilty of running a brutal detention camp near the eastern town of Foca and of encouraging and assisting in the capture, torture, rape and killing of non-Serb civilians.

"He set up a detention centre in the Karaman House, where nine women were kept, most of them minors," said presiding judge Davorin Jukic. "Two girls were 12 years old. One of them is still missing".

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Stankovic was found to have repeatedly raped, tortured and beaten the two girls for months, Mr Jukic said. He offered other girls to Bosnian Serb soldiers, who raped and humiliated them.

Stankovic was not present during the ruling, and had been removed from court for most of the proceedings because of his behaviour and continued insults to the court.

The court heard testimonies from 14 protected witnesses. Two rape victims faced Stankovic in court and identified him as the person in charge of the infamous Karaman House detention centre.