Police find Stanković escape vehicle

Police find Stanković escape vehicle

Stanković escaped Friday from the prison in the town of Foča, where he was serving a 16-year sentence for war crimes committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

He had complained of feeling ill, and was being transferred to a hospital when accomplices grabbed him for the escape.

Local media reported that, when prison guards were transferring Stanković to the hospital, their vehicle was intercepted by another carrying an unknown number of his accomplices.

Bosnian police investigating the escape said Tuesday they were not sure how many accomplices had helped Stanković flee.

Stanković was sentenced in November 2006 to 16 years in prison for war crimes, including detaining Muslim women and turning them into sex slaves for fellow soldiers, during the war in Bosnia.

It was the first verdict handed down by Bosnian State Court in a case transferred from the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal.

Stanković, as a member of a paramilitary unit in Foča, took part in the arrest of Muslim Bosniak civilians in the town at the start of the war. During the arrests, many civilians were beaten and killed. Women were detained and subjected to forced labor, beatings and rape.

In August 1992, Stanković set up a detention center for the women in a private house, which the soldiers referred to as the Brothel.

At least nine girls and women were kept at the house, and were assigned to specific Serb soldiers to be raped or sexually assaulted. The court also found that Stanković had raped at least two women.