Bosnian Serb politician convicted by UN tribunal to serve jail term in Denmark

A prominent former Bosnian Serb political figure convicted by a United Nations war crimes tribunal for his role in the ethnic cleansing that took place during the Balkan wars of the 1990s will serve the remainder of his 30-year jail term in Denmark.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which sits in The Hague in the Netherlands, announced today that Radoslav Brdanin has been transferred to detention in Denmark.

In 2004 Mr. Brdanin – who held various senior positions with the so-called Autonomous Region of Krajina (ARK), a self-styled state created by Bosnian Serbs within Bosnia and Herzegovina – was convicted by the ICTY of the wilful killing, torture and persecution of non-Serbs and of instigating forcible transfers and deportations from the Krajina region.

He was also convicted over his role in the destruction of cities, towns and villages in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The trial chamber then sentenced him to 32 years in prison, although in 2007 this term was reduced slightly to 30 years after the ICTY appeals chamber reversed some of the convictions.

Denmark is one of 14 European countries that have signed an agreement with the ICTY to enforce sentences imposed by the Tribunal on convicted individuals, and nearly 40 people either have served or are currently serving their sentence in one of those countries.