[JURIST] The appeals division of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website] ruled Friday that the trial chamber of the same court had erred in its 2003 sentencing of former Bosnian Serb detention camp commander Dragan Nikolic [case sheet]. Nikolic, who personally tortured inmates with pipes and axe handles during the 1990s Balkans conflict, had been sentenced to 23 years in a plea bargain agreement regarding four charges of crimes against humanity for his commanding role at Sušica camp. Judge Theodor Meron, who presided over Nikolic's appeal, reduced his prison sentence to 20 years after concluding [ICTY press release] that the trial chamber incorrectly factored into the sentence the ICTY's practice of granting early release. Reuters has more.
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