Rajic pleaded guilty to wilful killing, inhumane treatment, appropriation of property and extensive destruction, and was sentenced last year by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Tribunal prosecutors agreed to drop six charges against him as part of a plea bargain.
During a 23 October 1993 attack against the Bosnian Muslim village of Stupni Do, troops under Rajic's control killed 31 civilians.
"Twelve years later, on 26 October 2005, Ivica Rajic pleaded guilty to these charges. During his sentencing hearing in April 2006, Rajic stated 'I should like to apologise to the families of the people who have suffered, expressing my full sympathies and my regrets for the loss of their nearest and dearest. (.) All those victims deserve the truth and justice, and my cooperation with the Prosecution is a contribution to the establishment of the truth and the acceptance of my responsibility'," the UN tribunal stated on its web site.
"The Trial Chamber took Rajic's statement into consideration among other factors and sentenced him to 12 years' imprisonment. Neither the prosecution nor the defence appealed the sentence as it was in the suggested range."