DHAKA: Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic has been convicted of genocide and war crimes during the 1992-95 war, and sentenced to 40 years in jail.

UN judges in The Hague found him guilty of 10 of 11 charges, including genocide over the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, reports the BBC.

Karadzic, 70, is the most senior political figure to face judgment over the violent collapse of Yugoslavia.

His case is being seen as one of the most important war crimes trials since World War Two.

He had denied the charges, saying that any atrocities committed were the actions of rogue individuals, not the forces under his command.

The trial, in which he represented himself, lasted eight years.

His lawyer said he would appeal, a process that could take several more years.

Karadzic faced two counts of genocide.

He was found not guilty of the first, relating to killing in several Bosnian municipalities.

But he was found guilty of the second count relating to Srebrenica, where Bosnian Serb forces massacred more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys.

‘Karadzic was in agreement with the plan of the killings,’ Judge O-Gon Kwon said.

BDST: 2222 HRS, MAR 24, 2016
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