Rebel Serb Leader Gets 35-Year Sentence

Jun 12, 08:34 AM

Current Headlines: A former Serb rebel leader was sentenced to 35 years in prison by the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague for atrocities committed in Croatia.

Milan Martic, 52, was the leader of the self-proclaimed Krajina Serb Republic in eastern Croatia from 1991-95.

He was convicted on charges related to ethnic cleansing that targeted non-Serbs, including the elderly and people in jail and a 1995 mortar attack on Zagreb, the BBC said. Martic had pleaded innocent to all charges.

A Croatian offensive reclaimed the area soon after the attack and Martic surrendered to the court in 2002.

Prosecutors said Martic was a key figure in a joint criminal enterprise masterminded by former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade to create a Greater Serbia throughout Bosnia and Croatia.

Former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic and political leader Radovan Karadzic are still fugitives.