Croatian Serb Commander Sentenced To 35 Years

Martic in May 2002 (AFP) June 12, 2007 -- The UN war crimes tribunal has convicted a wartime leader of Croatia's rebel Serbs of murder, torture, and persecution, sentencing him to 35 years in prison.

The court found Milan Martic responsible for hundreds of murders of non-Serbs from 1991, when Serbs in the Krajina region of northeastern Croatia rebelled and set up a ministate until 1995, when Croatian forces recaptured the area.

Martic was also convicted of ordering the shelling of the Croatian capital, Zagreb, in May 1995.

(compiled from agency reports)