Serbian War Criminal to Serve Sentence in Poland

A Polish court decided Tuesday that former Serbian police chief Sreten Lukic, who was convicted of committing war crimes in Kosovo, can serve out his 20-year sentence in a Polish prison.

The court in the capital Warsaw however requested more information on the health of another Serbian war criminal, Vladimir Lazarevic, who was sentenced to 14 years behind bars.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague has also asked Poland to host Lazarevic.

The country's justice minister will now take the final decision on whether to jail Lukic, 59, on Polish soil. He was first convicted to 22 years in February 2009, but the sentence was reduced on appeal to 20 years in January.

If accepted, he would become the second Serbian war criminal to serve out a sentence in Poland.

Former Bosnian-Serb general Radislav Krstic arrived in Poland in March to serve the remainder of a 35-year jail term for his role in the infamous 1995 Srebrenica massacre, ruled an act of genocide against Bosnian Muslims.

Poland is one of 17 countries that have pledged to accept war criminals convicted by The Hague.