Tadic: crimes against humanity

War Criminal Sentenced to 20 Years

Dusan Tadic was found guilty in May by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of torturing and killing Muslims in northwest Bosnia in 1992. He was convicted of six crimes against humanity and two murders. Describing his atrocities against his Muslim victims, Judge Kirk McDonald said he beat them "intentionally and with sadistic brutality, using knives, weapons, iron bars, the butt of a pistol, sticks and by kicking ... tightening a noose around the neck of one of them until he lost consciousness. Why?"

She then ordered Tadic to stand and read out a list of 11 offences and their sentences, ranging from six years to the maximum 20.

McDonald: He should serve at least 10 years

Judge McDonald sentencing Tadic

He was sentenced to a total of 97 years for 11 separate convictions, but the longest term was 20 years, with other sentences ordered to run concurrently. Tadic received the 20-year sentence for a blanket charge of persecution of the non-Serb population of Prijedor in northwest Bosnia. The judges said he should serve at least 10 years from the date of the sentence.

He was cleared of a further 20 charges, including nine murders, for lack of evidence.

The victims of persecution

Tadic stood calmly in the dock with a slight smile on his face as presiding judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald read out the sentences during a 12-minute hearing. He waved to a small group of friends in the court's public gallery as he was led away by two United Nations guards.