World Bulletin / News Desk
A UN war crimes court on Tuesday granted the early release of a former Bosnian Serb police commander convicted and jailed for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.
Borovcanin, the deputy commander of a special Bosnian Serb police unit sent to take part in the Srebrenica genocide, was found guilty and sentenced in June 2010 to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He was later transferred to a prison in Denmark. Together with the time he spent behind bars after his arrest in April 2005 and during his trial, he has become eligible for release after serving two-thirds of his term.
Borovcanin, 56, was among seven high-ranking Bosnian military and police officials tried by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for their roles in the massacre in which some 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed, their bodies dumped in mass graves.
Two of his co-accused, Vujadin Popovic and Ljubisa Beara, were jailed for life for taking part in Europe's worst massacre since World War II. Their sentences were upheld on appeal in January 2015.
But judge Theodor Meron on Tuesday granted Borovcanin's "request for early release effective August 1, 2016 or as soon as practicable thereafter."
