Ex-Bosnian Serb Leader Karadzic Sentenced to 40 Years in Jail

A UN court has sentenced Radovan Karadzic to 40 years in jail after finding the former Bosnian Serb leader guilty of genocide for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre and on nine other war crime charges.

"Karadzic was convicted of genocide in the area of Srebrenica in 1995, of persecution, extermination, murder, deportation, inhumane acts (forcible transfer), terror, unlawful attacks on civilians and hostage-taking during the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 until 1995," the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said in a statement on Thursday.

He was acquitted of the charge of genocide in other municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. 

Karadzic, 70, is the most senior political figure to be convicted by the ICTY.

Nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys had been massacred by Bosnian Serb forces in the Srebrenica enclave.

As the President of Republika Srpska (RS) and Supreme Commander of the RS army, Karadzic was "the sole person within the RS with the power to intervene to prevent the Bosnian Muslim males from being killed," Presiding Judge Kwon said, according to the statement.

The 1992-1995 conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people and displaced 2.2 million others.

Karadzic, 70, has the right to appeal the verdict. He is entitled to credit for time spent in in custody since 21 July 2008 to the present day, the ICTY said.