Momir Nikolić (born 20 February 1955) is an ethnic

Bosnian Serb The Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sr-Cyrl, Срби у Босни и Херцеговини, Srbi u Bosni i Hercegovini) are one of the three constitutive nations (state-forming nations) of the country, predominantly residing in the politi ...

who served as Assistant Chief of Security and Intelligence for the Bratunac Brigade, Drina Corps, Bosnian Serb Army, VRS, at a time when the unit was engaged in legal and illegal operations in and around Srebrenica. In 2003, he pleaded guilty to

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

, for which he received a 20-year sentence.

Background

Nikolić is a native of Hrancin,

Bratunac Bratunac ( sr-cyrl, Братунац) is a town and municipality located in easternmost part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, it has a population of 20,340 inhabitants, while the town of Bratunac has a population of 8,359 inhabitants. ...

, he served as Assistant Chief of Security and Intelligence for the Bratunac Brigade, Drina Corps, Bosnian Serb Army, VRS. On 26 March 2002 he was

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an ...

, charged with persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds (crimes against humanity). Nikolić was arrested by

SFOR The Stabilisation Force in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SFOR) was a NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force deployed to Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Bosnian war. Although SFOR was led by NATO, several non-NATO countries contributed troops. It ...

on 1 April 2002 and transferred to

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...

(ICTY) custody the following day. Nikolić made his initial appearance on 3 April 2002, pleading not guilty on all counts. A

plea agreement A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

was reached on 7 May 2003 and Nikolić pleaded guilty to Count 5 of the indictment - Crimes against humanity. A written Factual Basis for the crime and for Nikolić’s participation in it was filed with the

. The Factual Basis and the indictment, which Nikolić acknowledged to be true, set out the following acts: *the murder of over 7,000 Bosnian Muslim men ages 16–60, including some women, children, and elderly men; *the cruel and inhumane treatment of Bosnian Muslim civilians, including beatings in and around Potocari and in detention facilities in Bratunac; *the terrorising of Bosnian Muslim civilians in Srebrenica and Potocari on 12–13 July 1995; *the destruction of personal property and effects belonging to the Bosnian Muslims; and *the forcible transfer of the entire Bosnian Muslim population from the Srebrenica enclave. Nikolić was sentenced to 27 years' imprisonment on 2 December 2003. The sentence was reduced to 20 years by the ICTY Appeals Chamber on 8 March 2006. Nikolić was transferred to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

to serve his sentence on 11 April 2007. Credit was given for time served since 2 April 2002, and he was granted early release on 14 March 2014, effective 1 July 2014.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nikolic, Momir 1955 births Living people Bosnian genocide perpetrators People convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia People indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia Bosnia and Herzegovina people imprisoned abroad Prisoners and detainees of Finland Blagojevic People extradited from Bosnia and Herzegovina