Four Bosnian Serbs Jailed for Wartime Murder of 150 People

Four former Bosnian Serb policemen were sentenced Friday to from 15 to 22 years in prison for their involvement in the execution of at least 150 Muslim and Croat civilians during the 1992-1995 war.

"Zoran Babic, Milorad Skrbic, Dusan Jankovic and Zeljko Stojnic participated in a joint criminal enterprise... and were found guilty of having committed crimes against humanity," judge Mirko Bozovic said.

The victims were separated from a convoy transporting more than 1,200 people expelled from territory controlled by Bosnian Serb forces in the northwestern region of Prijedor.

They were then brought to the village of Koricanske Stijene in central Bosnia on August 21, 1992, and executed.

"They were lined up and forced to kneel at the edge of a ravine and shot," the judge said. "At least 150 people were killed and only a dozen survived the execution."

Babic was sentenced to 22 years in prison, while Skrbic and Stojnic were given 21- and 15-year jail terms respectively, all for having participated in the execution.

Jankovic, Serb police commander in Prijedor at the time, was jailed for 21 years as "he did nothing to prevent the murders," the judge said.

Three other former Bosnian Serb policemen were sentenced last year to 23 years in jail each for their roles in the incident, considered one of the worst crimes committed during the war in Bosnia that left some 100,000 people dead.