THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- The Hague war crimes tribunal convicted Milan Babic of persecution after dropping murder and other charges against the former Croatian Serb leader.
The BBC reported Wednesday the 47-year-old Babic pleaded guilty to charges of persecuting non-Serbs. In return, prosecutors agreed to drop charges of murder, cruelty and the wanton destruction of villages during the war in Croatia in the early 1990s.
The prosecution recommended Babic, who will be sentenced in April, serve 11 years in prison.
Babic showed some remorse in a statement to the tribunal on Tuesday. He said he had allowed himself "to take part in the worst kind of persecution of people simply because they were Croats and not Serbs."
Babic asked Croats to forgive "their brother Serbs." The charges relate to a Serb revolt in Krajina against Croatian independence in 1991 and 1992.
Babic was an ally of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who is himself on trial for alleged war crimes. But Babic testified against Milosevic at his trial in 2002.
