[JURIST] The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] on Wednesday rejected the appeal [judgment summary; press release] of former Bosnian Serb paramilitary leader Dragan Zelenovic [ICTY case backgrounder] contesting his 15-year sentence [JURIST report] on rape and torture charges. Zelenovic had asked the court to reduce his sentence due to his guilty plea and his cooperation with prosecutors, but the appeals court wrote that the Trial Chamber "reasonably assessed the importance of the guilty plea" when determining Zelenovic's sentence and that his sentence should not be reduced because he failed to show that "his cooperation went beyond the scope of his obligations" under the plea deal.

Zelenovic was accused [indictment] of raping eight Bosnian Muslim women under circumstances amounting to torture between July and October 1992 after Serbian forces took control of the the Foca municipality in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Zelenovic pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to three counts of torture and four counts of rape. AP has more.