[JURIST] The appeals chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] reduced the sentence of former Bratunac brigade commander Vidoje Blagojevic [ICTY case backgrounder, PDF] from 18 to 15 years for his role in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre [BBC timeline; JURIST news archive]. The court reversed [judgement summary; press release] Blagojevic's conviction on charges of complicity in genocide, holding that Blagojevic should have been acquitted on those charges because he was not aware that the massacre was going to take place. The court upheld his other convictions on aiding and abetting the persecutions, killings and forcible transfer of Bosnian Muslims.

The 2005 Srebrenica massacre left over 7,000 Muslims dead at the hands of Bosnian Serb forces. The ICTY found Blagojevic guilty [JURIST report] in 2005 for playing a role in the genocide, while co-defendant Dragan Jokic was found guilty on aiding and abetting charges. BBC News has more.