Reuters AlertNet Lite - Bosnia court jails ex-Serb paramilitary for 28 years

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Bosnia court jails ex-Serb paramilitary for 28 years

28 Nov 2007 22:57:50 GMT
Source: Reuters

SARAJEVO, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Bosnia's war crimes court jailed a former Bosnian Serb military police officer on Wednesday for 28 years for murder and rape during the Balkan country's 1992-95 war.

Jadranko Palija, 46, "was found guilty of war crimes against humanity and war crimes against civilians, and imposed a ... sentence of 28 years of long-term imprisonment," the court said in a statement.

It said Palija took part in the shooting of civilians captured in the villages around the northwestern town of Sanski Most in May 1992. "He personally killed five civilians," it said.

Palija and other soldiers also attempted to execute 14 detainees "by ordering them to remove their clothes and jump off a bridge. They opened fire as they were falling into the water but no one was killed on this occasion," it said.

Palija was also found guilty of raping a woman in mid-1992 when he searched a house in which he found two women and two children.

"He intimidated them by saying their lives were worth nothing ... he took one woman and raped her while threatening to use the pistol."

Bosnia's war crimes court was set up in 2005 to take over some of the workload of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

It is currently handling low and mid-level cases as the Hague-based court plans to wind down by 2010. About two dozen suspects are being tried or are awaiting trial at the Sarajevo court. (Reporting by Maja Zuvela; Editing by Richard Williams)

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Last updated:Wed Nov 28 22:57:24 2007