War convicts lose Hague appeals

War convicts lose Hague appeals

Delic: "Sadistic" deputy commander created climate of fear

Three men who killed, tortured, raped, and beat ethnic Serbs during the Bosnian civil war have lost appeals against their sentences at the Hague.

The men - two Bosnian Muslims and a Croat - were convicted in November 1998 and lost appeals in 2001.

The case, said to be one of the most complex ever to come before the tribunal, was the first to deal with attacks on Serb civilians, and the first to establish that rape could be legally held to be torture.

The three convicted men were in charge of the Celebici prison camp in central Bosnia, where the atrocities were committed, in 1992.

Witnesses at the original trial described how camp inmates were tortured, beaten to death by guards wielding baseball bats, set on fire, and raped.

Small victory

There was a small victory for the camp's deputy commander, Hazim Delic, a Muslim, whose appeal against one conviction for wilful killing was upheld.

His sentence was reduced from 20 to 18 years. But judges dismissed protestations from Delic that a reduction of two years was too small, saying the serious nature of his offences justified the heavy sentence.

In the original trial, judges said he had taken sadistic pleasure in causing pain and created a climate of terror and absolute fear around the camp.

Appeals have only served to see Mucic's sentence increased

The appeals court upheld the nine-year sentence of camp commander Zdravko Mucic, a Croat, who was convicted for failing to stop the atrocities.

Previous appeal judges increased his sentence from seven years, in view of the gravity of his offences.

A 15-year murder sentence imposed on Esad Landzo, a Muslim guard, was also upheld.

All the defendants have been in prison since 1996.

An original decision to acquit the region's military commander, Zejnil Dalalic, of all charges, was allowed to stand.

The tribunal, set up in 1994 to punish war crimes during the former Yugoslavia's violent break-up, is currently hearing cases against former President Slobodan Milosevic and four aides.