Citation: IT-98-33
Link to the full case: http://www.icty.org/case/krstic/4
Trial Judgment: 2 August 2001
Appeal Judgment: 19 April 2004
Radislav Krstić was the Commander of the Drina Corps of the VRS. He was tried for allegedly having planned, instigated, ordered, or otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or execution of the opportunistic killings of captured Bosnian Muslim men from the Srebrenica “safe area” by VRS military personnel. He was the first person to have been convicted of genocide at the ICTY, although the conviction was reduced later to aiding and abetting genocide.
This case marked the first determination that a genocide had indeed occurred at Srebrenica and the first time that rape was linked to ethnic cleansing. The prosecution accused Krstić of genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, crimes against humanity for extermination, murder, persecution, deportation, and inhumane acts of forcible transfer, and violations of the laws or customs of war for murder. He was convicted by the Trial Chamber in 2001 of genocide; crimes against humanity for murder, persecution, deportation, and inhumane acts of forcible transfer; and violations of the laws or customs of war for murder. He was sentenced to 46 years’ imprisonment.
The Appeals Chamber found that he was an abettor and aider rather than one who conducted the genocide. He was also found guilty of the violations of the laws or customs of war for murder and aiding and abetting murder, and crimes against humanity for extermination and persecution. The Appeals Chamber reduced his sentence to 35 years.
Summary based on notes from the IJRC