Serb war criminal commits suicide serving ICTY sentence News
Serb war criminal commits suicide serving ICTY sentence

[JURIST] Milan Babic [ICTY case backgrounder], former wartime leader of Croatia's rebel Serbs during the Balkan wars, was found dead in his cell at a UN detention facility Sunday after he committed suicide. Babic was sentenced [JURIST report] by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website] to 13 years in prison for his role in ethnic cleansing, after pleading guilty to one count of persecution [plea agreement] in a deal where prosecutors dropped four other charges of murder, cruelty and wanton destruction of villages. Among the crimes Babic admitted to were murder, deportation or forcible transfer, unlawful imprisonment of non-Serb civilians, and destruction of property. Babic's sentence was upheld on appeal [JURIST report].

Babic had been serving his sentence at a UN detention facility in a suburb of The Hague. He was a key witness against former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic [JURIST news archive], testifying at Milosevic's ICTY trial in 2002. ICTY President Judge Fausto Pocar has ordered an internal inquiry [ICTY press release] into Babic's death. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.