Bosnian Serb jailed for 34 years

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A former Bosnian Serb paramilitary leader has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for crimes against humanity during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.

Bosnia's war crimes court convicted Gojko Jankovic for his role in the killing, enslavement and rape of Muslim civilians in the eastern town of Foca.

The sentence handed down to the 52-year-old Jankovic is the longest passed by the court in Sarajevo.

His lawyers say they will appeal against the ruling.

Jankovic was found guilty on seven counts of crimes against humanity.

Presiding Judge Zorica Gogala said Jankovic led Bosnian Serb forces during the capture and killing of seven men near Foca in 1992.

Jankovic was also found guilty of raping six people, including a 12-year-old girl.

Judge Gogala said one of the seized teenagers was kept by Jankovic as his "sex slave" for more than a year.

Even compared to the general brutality that characterised the Bosnian war, what happened in Foca stands out, the BBC's Nicholas Walton says.

Many of the seized Muslim civilians were subjected to a systematic programme of abuse, involving starvation, unhygienic conditions and physical and psychological torture, our correspondent says.