Serbia parliaments appoints new chief war crimes prosecutor

BELGRADE, Serbia – Serbia’s parliament has chosen a new chief war crimes prosecutor more than a year after the previous one retired.

Snezana Stanojkovic was elected in a 153-2 vote in the 250-member assembly. Stanojkovic has worked in the war crimes prosecutor’s office since 2010.

Serbia’s populist government has faced criticism for its failure to appoint the chief war crimes prosecutor for so long. The office is crucial in the country’s efforts to deal with atrocities committed during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

The previous prosecutor, Vladimir Vukcevic, was instrumental in the capture of top war crimes suspects from the Bosnian war — Bosnian Serb political and military leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic. They were charged with genocide by a U.N. tribunal.