Nikolic, 46, was commander of the Susica camp near Vlasenica in eastern Bosnia, which was set up by Bosnian Serb forces in June 1992. About 8,000 Bosnian Muslim civilians and other non-Serbs were held in extremely inhumane conditions in the camp, with many women being sexually abused and raped.
Nikolic was initially charged with 80 counts of crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the Geneva conventions and violations of the laws and customs of war. In September 2003, under a plea agreement with the prosecution, he admitted responsibility for the murder of nine inmates and the torture of five, and for allowing women prisoners to be raped.
Nikolic was the first person to have been indicted by the tribunal. The indictment was issued on November 4, 1994, and he was arrested by NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR) troops in Bosnia-Herzegovina in April 2000 when he was transferred to The Hague.
According to the verdict, the time Nikolic has spent in the tribunal's custody will be counted as part of the sentence.