New ICTY prosecutor says finding war crimes fugitives top priority News
New ICTY prosecutor says finding war crimes fugitives top priority

[JURIST] New International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz [ICC profile; JURIST report] said Wednesday that finding and prosecuting Balkan war crimes suspects will be a top priority under his leadership. Brammertz called on [statement] the states of the former Yugoslavia to cooperate in working toward the arrest of Bosnian Serb leaders Ratko Mladic [BBC profile] and Radovan Karadzic [ICTY indictment], as well as Croatian Serb war crimes suspects Goran Hadzic and Stojan Zupljanin [ICTY indictments]. UN News Centre has more. AFP has additional coverage.

Brammertz took over the court's leadership earlier this month and said that he would continue his predecessor's tough stance on Serbian cooperation [JURIST report]. Former chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte [JURIST news archive] long criticized Serbia for its seeming reluctance to cooperate with the ICTY. The EU had made Serbia's cooperation with the ICTY a key element of its membership negotiations [EU accession materials].

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.