Swede convicted of war crimes in Bosnia

Stockholm, December 20 (Source: B92) - A Swedish man who served as a mercenary in a Croatian militia was convicted Monday of war crimes during the Bosnian war.

The Stockholm District court did not hand down a prison sentence to Jacky Arklov, who was found guilty of abusing and torturing prisoners, because he is already serving a life term for killing two police officers in Sweden.

The court ordered him to pay between 70,000-425,000 kronor (7,700-47,000 euros) to 11 victims.

"This is the first time in modern times that a person has been convicted in a Swedish court of violating international law," the court said in a statement.

Arklov had pleaded guilty to most of the charges, stemming from his time as a mercenary in Bosnia in 1993.

In 1995, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for war crimes by a Bosnian court, but was transferred to Sweden where he was acquitted because of a lack of evidence.

A new trial started this year based on fresh testimony from witnesses.

Arklov is already serving a life prison sentence for the highly publicized killing of two police officers after a bank robbery in Sweden in 1999.

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