MOSCOW, March 27 – RAPSI, Ingrid Burke. Former high-ranking Bosnian Serb officials Mico Stanisic and Stojan Zuljanin, who were active during the hostilities surrounding the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, were both convicted of a host of war crimes and crimes against humanity Wednesday and sentenced to 22 years in prison by a trial chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Stanisic had formerly served at Interior Minister of Republika Srpska.

Zupljanin was Chief of Regional Security Services Center of Banja Luka and served as a member of the Crisis Staff of the Autonomous Region of Krajina (ARK).

The Trial Chamber concluded that the defendants carried out together a Joint Criminal Enterprise (JCE), as alleged in the indictment: “On the basis of the evidence above, the Chamber is satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that a common plan did exist, the objective of which was to permanently remove Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from the territory of the planned Serbian state” by means of crimes against humanity and inhumane acts.

The judgment describes the JCE as having given rise to ““the violent takeovers of... municipalities and the ensuing widespread and systematic campaign of terror and violence.”

According to the judgment, the JCE plan was physically carried out by Serb forces, whose actions constituted the actus reus of the alleged crimes.

Furthermore, Staisic and Zupljanin were convicted of a range of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war.

The chamber considered various mitigating circumstances. In Staisic’s case, credence was paid to the fact that he had surrendered himself to the tribunal, and that he had enjoyed a noble reputation among colleagues.

In Zupljanin’s case, kudos were given for the fact that the defendant had apologized to his victims during trial.

The court held, however, that none of these were sufficient to significantly detract from the severity of the crimes that the two were convicted of.

They were both sentenced to 22 years in prison. Time served will count against their sentences. Staisic has been in detention since 2005, Zupljanin since 2008.

Staisic turned himself into the ICTY shortly after having been indicted in 2005. Zupljanin, on the other hand, was on the lam for nearly a decade, having been indicted in 1999.

The two cases were joined in 2008, and trial began a year later in September 2009. The trial concluded in June 2012, and the chamber considered the case for nearly one year prior to issuing Tuesday’s decision.