A former Bosnia Serb police officer and soldier has been convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

       The Court of Bosnia-Herzegovina found that Rade Garic had been involved in the systematic persecution of Bosniak Muslims civilians during the 1992-95 war.

       He was found guilty of atrocities in the eastern town of Vlasenica in 1992 and later in Srebrenica in 1995.

       Local media said Garic remains in detention. It was not immediately clear whether he will appeal the verdict.

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       More than 100,000 people were killed during the Bosnian War after Bosnian Serb forces seized control of large areas and forced non-Serbs from their homes. Millions were left displaced after the conflict.

       The court heard how Bosniak civilians were persecuted in Vlasenica, "by way of murders, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law."

       Meanwhile, Bosnian Serb soldiers and police executed more than 8,000 men and boys at Srebrenica in 1995, in what is recognised as Europe’s only post-World War II genocide.