Court reduces war crimes sentence for ex-general

The court decided to reduce a prison term for former Croatian general Mirko Norac, 42, sentenced in May 2008 by a Zagreb court.

ZAGREB, (AFP) - Croatia's Supreme court said Thursday it has reduced from seven to six years a jail term for an ex-general sentenced for war crimes committed on Serbs during the 1991-1995 war in this former Yugoslav republic.

The court decided to reduce a prison term for former Croatian general Mirko Norac, 42, sentenced in May 2008 by a Zagreb court for war crimes against Serb civilians and prisoners of war during the conflict.

It said that Norac was guilty of the crimes he had been charged with, but decided to accept his appeal to reduce the sentence.

The court also confirmed the acquittal of another former general, 56-year old Rahim Ademi, judged at the same trial.

Previously, the court in Zagreb confirmed Norac's responsibility for the murder of three Serb civilians and two prisoners of war, as well as for looting and destroying houses belonging to the Serbs in 1993, during the military operation in central Croatia.

During this action by the Croatian forces, 23 Serb civilians and five prisoners of war were killed, the indictment said.

The process against Norac and Ademi, who had first been indicted by the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), was transferred to Croatian justice in 2005.

Norac is already serving a 12-year prison term, after he was sentenced by a local court in 2003 for other war crimes committed against the Serb civilians in 1991.

Croatia's proclamation of independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991 sparked a four-year conflict with rebel Serbs who opposed the move. The war claimed some 20,000 lives.

The ability of Croatian authorities to deal with war crimes committed by its own nationals is closely monitored by the European Union.

Zagreb hopes to join the 27-nation bloc by 2012.

But a local human rights group, Documenta -- which monitors war crimes trials -- said earlier Thursday that Croatia's efforts in dealing with war crimes cases are insufficient and the country lacks the political will to efficiently handle them.