Bosnian Serb war criminal Krstic may serve sentence in Poland

Srebrenica wall of victims' names: photo - wikipedia

Polish Justice Minister Jaroslaw Gowin reserves the right to make the final decision on the matter.

Krstic was indicted for war crimes in 1998 at the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague, in connection with the Srebrenica massacre of Bosnian Muslims in 1995.

However, in 2010, he was attacked by three Muslim inmates at Wakefield Prison in northern England.

Since then, Krstic's lawyers have been endeavouring to transfer their client to another country that has a smaller Muslim minority than the UK's.

Poland is one of 17 countries to have signed an agreement with the United Nations concerning the internment of war criminals sentenced at the Hague.

If Krstic is transferred to Poland, the costs of his imprisonment will be covered by the Polish taxpayer.

He has 24 years left to serve, at an estimated cost of 24,000 zloty per year (5805 euro).

Krstic had been originally been sentenced to 46 years for genocide, but following an appeal hearing in 2004, the sentence was cut by 11 years and changed to “aiding and abetting genocide.”

About 8000 Bosnian Muslims were killed in the Srebrenica massacre, with Krstic the first member of the Bosnian Serb army to be put on trial, after he was abducted by British special forces in December 1998. (nh)