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A court in Bosnia found ten people guilty of murder and crimes against humanity for killing civilians in the summer of 1992 during the wars in the Balkans.
The ten Bosnian Serbs were convicted on Wednesday of killing 24 Muslims near the town of Novi Grad. The attacks were carried out after a member of a Bosnian Serb militia group had been killed.
The punishment was aggravated by the circumstances and the methods used by the convicts. First, a group of victims was taken to a Christian, Orthodox cemetery where several men were shot in front of their wives and children.
Then about 90 people were forced from their homes and taken to a Muslim burial ground where they were forced to dig graves. Several of them were then shot, in front of their wives and children according to judge Lejla Konjic Dragovic.
A total of 24 people were killed, many of whom have not been found, as the bodies were later dug up and thrown into a river.
Only four of the ten defendants were in court.
The punishment was between 18 and nine years in prison. The maximum penalty for war crimes is 20 years.
About 100,000 people were killed in the Balkan wars of 1992–1995.