[JURIST] Convicted Serbian war criminal Radovan Stankovic [Court of BiH materials] was arrested Saturday in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) after being on the run since May 2007 when he escaped from a Bosnia prison. Stankovic was convicted of multiple war crimes [JURIST report] in 2006, including rape, enslavement and torture. International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] prosecutor Serge Brammertz welcomed the arrest [press release], saying it “is significant for the victims of the grave crimes he has been convicted for.” He also said he hopes this arrest “reflects an increased commitment of the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to support the process of bringing to justice those responsible for the grave crimes committed on their territory in the early 1990s.”

Stankovic was serving a 20-year prison sentence when he escaped [JURIST report]. He was the first prisoner to be transferred [JURIST report] from the ICTY to the State Court of BiH [official website], and was also the first transferee to be convicted there. He was convicted of war crimes committed in Foca, Bosnia, from 1992 to 1995.