Bosnian Serb commander to serve out UN-passed sentence in Germany

The United Nations tribunal set up to try those responsible for atrocities committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s has transferred a former senior Bosnian Serb army commander to Germany to serve his life sentence for war crimes committed in Sarajevo from 1992 to 1994.

Stanislav Galić, who was transferred yesterday, was initially sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to 20 years in prison in December 2003 for murder, inhumane acts and acts of violence on Sarajevo’s civilian population.

Then in November 2006, after both the prosecution and defense appealed the verdict, the appeals judges serving with the ICTY – located in The Hague, Netherlands – found that the sentence rendered by the Trial Chamber had underestimated the severity of Mr. Galić’s criminal conduct and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

It was the first time that the ICTY’s appeal chamber imposed the maximum penalty.

The Tribunal indicted 161 persons for serious violations of humanitarian law committed on the territory of former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 2001. Proceedings against 116 persons have been concluded.

Germany is one of several European countries that have signed an agreement with the ICTY to enforce sentences imposed by the Tribunal on convicted individuals.