The Hague, Netherlands
A Yugoslav general was sentenced to eight years in prison this week for the 1991 siege of Dubrovnik, a three-month barrage of shelling that razed most of the medieval town. The U.N. war crimes tribunal said that while Gen. Pavle Strugar did not order the shelling, he had ample opportunity to call it off. Dubrovnik, a coastal town in Croatia, was a protected World Heritage site because of its beautiful medieval churches and archways. It was not strategically important, and its destruction by the Serbian-led Yugoslav army, the tribunal said, was simply malicious. Strugar, 71, said he would appeal the sentence.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Why is the world so divided over plastics?Today's Big Question UN negotiations on first global plastic treaty are at stake, as fossil fuel companies, petrostates and plastic industry work to resist a legal cap on production
-
Temple Mount: the politics of Judaism's holiest siteThe Explainer Latest provocation at religious site with a history of 'perpetual friction' risks violence erupting again
-
Ssh! Secret gardens to visit this summerThe Week Recommends These leafy havens are the perfect place to escape the crowds
