Bosnian Serb assembly 'appreciates' war criminals

BELGRADE, Serbia

The Serb Republika Srpska parliament on Monday awarded a certificate of appreciation to ex-Bosnian Serb leader and convicted war criminal Radovan Karadzic, and his two deputies for their contributions to the assembly's work.

The certificates were awarded during a special session marking the 25th anniversary of the national assembly of Republika Srpska -- one of the two entities making up Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Assembly President Nedeljko Cubrilovic granted the certificates to a number of people and entities including Karadzic, his deputies Biljana Plavsic and Nikola Koljevic, and co-founder of the Bosnian Serb nationalist Serb Democratic Party, Momcilo Krajisnik.

Karadzic's daughter, Sonja Karadzic Jovicevic, who is a deputy speaker of the parliament, received the certificate on behalf her father, who is currently in the custody of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, Netherlands.

The first president of the Republika Srpska was in late March 2016 jailed for 40 years on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War that left tens of thousands of people dead.

Krajisnik was sentenced in 2006 to 20 years' imprisonment, and was granted early release in 2013, while Plavsic was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2003, and was released in 2009.

Koljevic died in 1997 after he shot himself in the head.

BELGRADE, Serbia

The certificates were awarded during a special session marking the 25th anniversary of the national assembly of Republika Srpska -- one of the two entities making up Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Krajisnik was sentenced in 2006 to 20 years' imprisonment, and was granted early release in 2013, while Plavsic was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2003, and was released in 2009.

Koljevic died in 1997 after he shot himself in the head.