WASHINGTON—Senator Roger F. Wicker, Co-Chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission), made the following statement in regard to yesterday’s sentencing of former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), located in The Hague, to 40 years imprisonment for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide:
“Yesterday’s conviction of Radovan Karadzic confirmed what we knew all along, namely that he was responsible for some of the worst atrocities to occur in Europe since World War II. Forty years in prison pale in comparison to the tens of thousands of innocent deaths that he caused. But it is good to see some measure of justice. I am hopeful that he never sees the light of day.”
The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found Radovan Karadzic guilty of 10 out of 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide during the 1992-1995 conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was acquitted of one count of genocide, finding that the prosecution did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt his genocidal intent in relation to crimes committed in seven municipalities across Bosnia and Herzegovina. Karadzic was the leading political figure among Bosnian Serbs during the conflict. The court, while taking into account mitigating circumstances, nevertheless sentenced the 70 year-old Karadzic to 40 years in prison for his crimes.
