Turkey welcomes Karadzic's life sentence

ANKARA- Anadolu Agency

The decision to sentence Radovan Karadzic to life in imprison is “appropriate in the interest of justice,” Turkey's foreign minister said on March 20.

“Radovan Karadzic, the butcher of Bosnia, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for his part in the Srebrenica Genocide,” Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on

Twitter. “Even though it does not relieve the pain we feel for the slaughter of our Bosnian brothers &sisters, we find this decision appropriate in the interest of justice.”       

A U.N. tribunal at The Hague on March 20 sentenced the former Bosnian Serb leader for genocide, crimes against humanity and violating the laws and customs of war.       

Turkish Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül also tweeted early on March 21 about the sentencing. “The Srebrenica genocide is a black blotch in modern European history. No court decision can relieve the pain in consciences,” Gül said. “However, the decision of the Council of Appeal of the International Criminal Courts to Radovan Karadzic for the life imprisonment is gratifying.”       

In 2016 Karadzic was sentenced to 40 years in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity relating to the 1992-1995 Bosnian War. He filed an appeal seeking an acquittal or retrial.