Serb Cousins Convicted of Burning 132 People Alive

Two Serb cousins were convicted yesterday by the UN tribunal in the Hague of burning scores of Bosnian men, women, and children to death during the early 1990s. Milan Lukic was sentenced to life in prison for the deaths of "at least 132 Muslim people," whom he locked inside houses and then set on fire with explosives. Sredoje Lukic received 30 years for helping his cousin with the atrocities.

Milan Lukic, 41, was indicted more than a decade ago on war crimes charges but went on the run. He was arrested in Argentina in 2005, and his cousin surrendered to Bosnian Serb authorities the following month. "These horrific events stand out for the sheer callousness and brutality of herding, trapping, and locking the victims, and for the degree of pain and suffering inflicted on the victims as they were burnt alive," said the presiding judge.