Serbia police arrest Bosnia war crimes fugitive wanted by ICTY News
Serbia police arrest Bosnia war crimes fugitive wanted by ICTY

[JURIST] Former Bosnian Serb police commander Stojan Zupljanin [ICTY indictment] was arrested by Serbian authorities Wednesday. Zupljanin is wanted by the International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws of war for allegedly killing civilians during the ethnic conflicts of the 1990s. Bosnian Serb leaders Ratko Mladic [BBC profile] and Radovan Karadzic, as well as Croatian Serb war crimes suspect Goran Hadzic [ICTY indictments] still remain at large. Serbian authorities said that Zupljanin would be transfered to the ICTY. AP has more.

ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz [ICC profile; JURIST report] has long criticized Serbia for its seeming reluctance to cooperate with the ICTY, exemplified by its failure to find and capture [JURIST report] the remaining war crimes suspects. Brammertz took over the court's leadership in January, saying that he would continue his predecessor's tough stance on Serbian cooperation [JURIST report] with the tribunal. The EU has made Serbia's cooperation with the ICTY a key element of its membership negotiations [EU accession materials]. Last week, Brammertz vowed to try all war crimes suspects [JURIST report] before the expiration of the ICTY's mandate in 2010.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Fyodor Dostoevsky sentenced to death

Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky was sentenced to death on November 16, 1849 over his involvement in the progressive Petrashevsky Circle of intellectuals. Dostoevsky and his codefendants were scheduled to be executed on December 22 of that year, but their execution was stayed by Tsar Nicholas I after the execution ritual had been carried out. Dostoevsky was sent to Siberia instead to serve a four-year sentence. Learn more about the mock execution of Dostoevsky.

Canada executed Metis leader for treason

On November 16, 1885, the Canadian government executed Metis leader Louis Riel for high treason in the wake of the "Northwest Rebellion" that had pitted the Metis (descendants of French traders and native tribes) in what is now Saskatchewan against Canadian troops. Although Riel has lately been rehabilitated as an Indigenous francophone patriot of the Canadian West, his trial and execution remain sore points between English and French Canada.

US President Nixon signs Trans-Alaska Pipeline Act

On November 16, 1973, US President Richard Nixon signed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Act into law. In addition to creating an oil pipeline across the state, the Act also quashed all environmental-legal challenges regarding its construction.