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Radovan Karadzic: Bosnian Serb leader has war crimes sentence extended to life

Karadzic, now 73, was found guilty of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in March 2016.

Radovan Karadzic
Image: Radovan Karadzic now faces life behind bars
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UN appeals judges have increased the sentence of former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic from 40 years to life imprisonment.

Karadzic, now 73, was found guilty of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in March 2016.

Applause broke out as Judge Joensen announced the harsher punishment on Wednesday, saying the previous sentence was too short considering the "sheer scale and systematic cruelty" of his crimes.

Three years ago, he was found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of 10 out of 11 charges - including genocide.

Radovan Karadzic, pictured in 1992
Image: Karadzic, pictured in 1992, was found guilty of war crimes in 2016

The charges related to the 1992-1995 conflict, which claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people and displaced 2.2 million others.

It found Karadzic to be responsible for orchestrating one of the worst atrocities on European soil since the Second World War, including the 1995 massacre of almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica.

Ratko Mladic whispers in the ear of Radovan Karadzic during a meeting in Pale, in August 1993
Image: Ratko Mladic (left) whispers to Karadzic in August 1993

Karadzic, who was president of Republika Srpska during the war and sought to unite the area with Serbia, has always argued that the Bosnian Serb campaigns, which included the bloody siege of the capital Sarajevo, were aimed at defending Serbs.

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Prosecutors appealed Karadzic's acquittal on a second count of genocide - but this was rejected by appeal judges.

At the time of the original ruling, the UN's then top human rights official, Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, hailed the judgement as "hugely significant", saying it showed "no one is above the law".

The deadly legacy of the Balkan wars
The deadly legacy of the Balkan wars

Written ahead of Mladic's sentencing, a look at what happened in the Balkan conflict

He said: "No matter how powerful they are, no matter how untouchable they imagine themselves to be, no matter what continent they inhabit, the perpetrators of such crimes ... will not escape justice."

The first indictment against Karadzic was announced in 1995, prompting an international arrest warrant to be issued the following year.

In 2008, disguised as a new-age therapist, he was eventually caught by Serbian authorities in Belgrade.

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'Mr Mladic sit down!' Warlord removed from court

Bosnian Serb wartime military commander Ratko Mladic, known as the "butcher of Bosnia", is also awaiting an appeal judgement on his genocide and war crimes conviction, which earned him a life sentence.