Stankovic was initially indicted by the Hague war crimes tribunal for crimes against Muslim civilians in the Foca area in 1992 and 1993.
He was arrested in Bosnia in 2002 by the then NATO-led Stabilisation Force and transferred to The Hague. His was the first of five cases which the UN court referred to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Given that apart from the killing and mistreatment of captive civilians Stankovic was also accused of sexually abusing underage Muslim girls, many witnesses and victims testified at closed hearings.
Stankovic refused to cooperate during trial and on several occasions insulted the judges, the prosecutor, and the attorneys.
An association of Muslim women war victims said they were unhappy with the sentence. President Bakira Hasecic said only imprisonment of a minimum 30 years would be a fair punishment. She added the association would appeal the sentence.