JURIST - Paper Chase: ICTY prosecutors seek life sentence for former Bosnian Serb parliament speaker

[JURIST] Prosecutors in the war crimes case against Momcilo Krajisnik [ICTY case backgrounder], a former Bosnian Serb speaker of parliament and the right hand man to former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic [ICTY case backgrounder; BBC profile], have called for a life sentence for Krajisnik due to the seriousness of his alleged crimes. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website] has charged Krajisnik with two counts of genocide and five counts of crimes against humanity for atrocities committed during the 1991-1995 Bosnian war. A verdict in Krajisnik's trial is expected before the end of September. Krajisnik was initially indicted together with Biljana Plavsic [ICTY case backgrounder], the former Bosnian Serb president, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2003 after testifying against Krajisnik.

Karadzic and former army chief Ratko Mladic [ICTY case backgrounder; JURIST news archive] are still wanted by the ICTY for alleged crimes committed during Bosnia's 1992-95 war, including organizing the 1995 slaughter of 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica [JURIST news archive]. Their continued fugitive status has been a sticking point [JURIST report] in Serbia's membership negotiations with the European Union [JURIST report; EU materials]. AP has more.

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