Bosnian Serb war criminal Radovan Karadzic to serve rest of prison sentence in UK

Convicted war criminal and former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic will serve the rest of his sentence in the UK after the government agreed to house him.

The wartime leader is one of the few people to ever be convicted of genocide.

He was found guilty of crimes against humanity for his part in the atrocities committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

His conviction for genocide related to his responsibility for the murder of more than 7,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995.

It was considered one of the worst massacres in Europe since the 1940s.

Karadzic was convicted in March 2016 on 10 counts including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes as the political mastermind behind Serb crimes in the conflict and sentenced to 40 years, later increased to life.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “Radovan Karadzic is one of the few people to have been found guilty of genocide.

“He was responsible for the massacre of men, women and children at the Srebrenica genocide and helped prosecute the siege of Sarajevo with its remorseless attacks on civilians.

“We should take pride in the fact that from UK support to secure his arrest, to the prison cell he now faces, Britain has supported the 30-year pursuit of justice for these heinous crimes.”

Karadzic was arrested in 2008 after evading capture for more than 12 years.