Arrest and Trial
On 31 May 2007, Tolimir was detained by the authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina after having been on the run for two years. Tolimir had negotiated with the Serbian government concerning his surrender to The Hague tribunal. He was handed to NATO personnel at the Banja Luka Airport on 31 May 2007, after being apprehended in Serbia. An ICTY representative formally read him the ICTY indictment while still at Banja Luka, and then NATO forces formally arrested him and took him to the NATO base in Sarajevo. NATO forces brought him to Rotterdam on 1 June 2007, and turned over custody of him to The Tribunal, which brought him to The Hague the same day. He is charged with crimes against humanity, genocide, and war crimes.
Tolimir was charged for his involvement in the Srebrenica genocide and the murder of Bosniak prisoners temporarily held the Bratunac and Zvornik regions after the Srebrenica win by Serb forces. The indictment alleges Tolimir supervised the VRS detachment which executed over 1,700 men and boys at the Branjevo Military Farm and the Pilica Cultural Centre.
On 5 October 2007, the registry of the ICTY announced their assessment of Tolimir's health as "grave, fragile and highly alarming", and that Tolimir was refusing blood pressure treatment for an inoperable brain aneurism. Tolimir had previously stated that he planned to represent himself during the trial. The verdict from his trial is due on 12 December, 2012.
On 12 December 2012, Tolimir was convicted of genocide and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Read more about this topic: Zdravko Tolimir
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