The Trial Chamber decided that the 1,130 days Rajic had spent in the tribunal's detention unit in the Hague district of Scheveningen would be credited towards his sentence.
Last year Rajic, 47, pleaded guilty to serious violations of the Geneva conventions following a plea agreement with the prosecution. At a hearing in April, the prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of 15 years.
In determining the length of the sentence, the Trial Chamber accepted as an aggravating circumstance the fact that the crimes were committed against particularly vulnerable groups, notably children and the elderly. The plea agreement, his expression of remorse for the crimes and cooperation with the prosecutors were taken as mitigating circumstances.
In his earlier address to the judges, Rajic said that he did not order the crimes and that they were not committed under his supervision. He stressed that he had received orders from his superiors to cover up the crimes and go into hiding and that they explained to him that it was in the interests of the Republic of Croatia.
Rajic said he was sorry for all the victims in Stupni Do and Vares, adding that they were killed "in a senseless war between two friendly peoples." He offered his apologies and sincere sympathy to the families of the victims, saying that the victims deserved the truth and justice, and that his confession was "an act of a responsible rather than a broken man."