Bosnian court jails ex-soldier over war crimes

A Bosnian court on Wednesday sentenced a former Serb soldier to 20 years in prison for committing war crimes against Bosniak civilians during the 1992 Bosnian War.

A 64-year-old Radomir Susnjar was on trial charged with war crimes in the eastern town of Visegrad.

The former Serbian soldier Susnjar, Milan Lukic and Sredoje Lukic on June 14, 1992 raided a house on the Pionirska Street, where Bosniak civilians were held prisoners, and set it on fire, according to a court statement.

A total of 57 Bosniak civilians, including children aged one and five, burned alive in the raided house, it added.

Meanwhile, Susnjar's partners in crime, Milan Lukic was slapped with life imprisonment while Sredoje Lukic was sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Arrested in France in 2014, Susnjar was extradited to Bosnia and Herzegovina in June 2018.

The Bosnian War was sparked by the break-up of Yugoslavia, which led Bosnia to declare its independence in February 1992.

Its capital Sarajevo came under attack from Bosnian Serb militias, backed by the Yugoslav army, in what became the longest siege in modern history.

Between April 1992 and December 1995, an estimated 100,000 people were killed and 2.2 million displaced in Bosnia. Up to 50,000 women, mostly Bosniak, were raped.