The Hague tribunal sentenced former Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic to 11 years in jail today for a crime against humanity in one of the most significant judgments by the UN court in a decade.
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Plavsic: dubbed the 'Iron Lady'
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Plavsic, dubbed the "Iron Lady" of the Balkans, last year changed her plea to guilty to one count of crimes against humanity during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.
She initially pleaded innocent to numerous counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes after surrendering to The Hague tribunal in January 2001.
But last October she changed her plea to guilty of one count of persecution on racial, religious and political grounds - a crime against humanity - saying she was filled with remorse. Other counts were dropped and Plavsic avoided trial.
Plavsic, the most senior politician to be sentenced in the tribunal's decade-long history, looked tense as the verdict was read out.She stood as the verdict was given by the presiding UN judge.
"The trial chamber sentences you to a period of 11 years in prison," judge Richard May said. "The trial chamber has already found this to be a crime of the upmost gravity".
Muslim victims of the 1992-5ethnic purge by Bosnian Serb forces said on Thursday they wereoutraged after the UNwar crimes court sentenced formerBosnian Serb leader Biljana Plavsic to only 11 years in jail.
"I am speechless. I cannot talk at all. I am shivering, I amcompletely shaken," said Mujesira Memisevic, whose husband andchildren and other close family members were killed during aBosnian Serb ethnic cleansing campaign in eastern Bosnia.
"The sentence is outrageously low," Memisevic added.
A stalwart in the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), she admitted responsibility for atrocities against Muslims and Croats in the Bosnian war. About 200,000 people are estimated to have been killed or went missing in the conflict.
Prosecutors had urged a sentence of 15-25 years in jail for Plavsic - the highest-ranking figure to admit to atrocities and the only woman publicly indicted by the tribunal.
The defence team said that would be tantamount to a life sentence for Plavsic (72). They recommended no more than eight years.
The court still has to decide in a closed hearing where Plavsic will serve her sentence. Nine European countries provide prison places for war criminals convicted by the tribunal. The countries include Italy, France, Spain, Germany and Sweden.