UN war crimes judges found two former Bosnian Muslim army commanders guilty today of atrocities committed by their troops on Bosnian Croat and Bosnian Serb civilians during the 1992-95 war.
Judges at the Hague tribunal sentenced former General Enver Hadzihasanovic to five years in jail and Brigadier Amir Kubura to two and a half years.
The men, among the highest-ranking Bosnian Muslims to stand trial in The Hague, were found guilty of failing to prevent or punish atrocities by troops under their command, including foreign Islamic mujahideen fighters.
Prosecutors had requested 20 years for Hadzihasanovic, 56, and 10 years for Kubura, 42.
The judge said time already spent in detention would be taken into account, meaning Kubura would be freed shortly.
The tribunal said prosecutors had failed to fully convince the court that the men had full knowledge of the abuses and effective control over the perpetrators, who in many cases were the foreign fighters.
Many came voluntarily from North Africa and the Middle East to support their fellow Muslims during the bloody conflict in the former Yugoslavia. They moved from giving out food to local Muslims to fighting alongside their forces.
Hadzihasanovic and Kubura were charged with commanding army units that murdered and abused at least 200 Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat civilians during Muslim attacks on Croat forces in central Bosnia between January 1993 and January 1994.
Prosecutors said civilians were taken captive, forced to dig trenches under fire, subject to horrific beatings, and used as human shields. Forces also plundered and destroyed homes.
Bosnia's Muslims and Croats began the war as allies against the Serbs but then fought each other for territory in Bosnia-Herzegovina.