The Congress of North American Bosniaks welcomes the news of an increased sentence and final verdict for the former Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadžić in the Appeals Chamber of the International warcrime tribunal in the Hague for his role in genocide and killings of civilians in the Serbian-led aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The UN war crimes court unanimously upheld the previous verdict at the former Bosnian Serb leader’s first trial, dismissing all but one of Radovan Karadžić’s appeals as disagreement with the court’s conclusions rather than valid legal objections. Furthermore, the Tribunal increased his sentence from 40 years to life sentence.

The news is welcome for thousands of family members of the victims of genocide and is another victory for justice. However, Radovan Karadzic is but one cog in the killing machine of Serbian -led aggression against the independent country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We hope to see other war criminals be prosecuted expediently, and repatriation is made by Serbia for the loss of human lives, in injuries, rapes, imprisonment, suffering, expulsions, destruction of property and infrastructure to millions in Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries in the region. We believe this verdict and sentence should serve as a catalyst for pursuit of justice and reconciliation in the region, by sending a clear message that the continued hateful Serb nationalist politics and anti-Bosnian rhetoric can no longer be tolerated by the international community.