WAR criminal Radovan Karadzic — a despot responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people in the Balkans — was secretly flown over to the UK to serve the rest of his life sentence at HMP Isle of Wight.

The 75-year-old Serbian, known as the Butcher of Bosnia, which relates to his widespread ethnic cleansing of thousands in the Balkan war, was flown in from the Netherlands. 

Isle of Wight County Press: A grieving Muslim at one of the many Bosnian war graves.A grieving Muslim at one of the many Bosnian war graves.

Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, announced on May 12 Karadzic would be accepted by the UK as part of an international UN deal.

Karadzic, who arrived in the UK on Wednesday amid tight security, was given a life sentence without parole and is expected to die in jail.

The Bosnian Serb leader, convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity at The Hague in 2016, was responsible for some of the worst atrocities committed in Europe since the end of the Second World War, including the massacre of 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica.

Isle of Wight County Press: War criminal Radovan Karadzic.War criminal Radovan Karadzic.

There are understood to have been fears of revenge attacks, particularly from Islamist terrorists, for whom he would be a major target, if he had been placed in a mainstream jail.

HMP Isle of Wight appears to have been chosen due to the reduced threat posed by the rest of its inmates, who are predominantly sex offenders, of which 40 per cent are aged over 50.

Karadzic was once the world's most wanted men. Following the end of the Bosnian War, he evaded justice for more than a decade, before he was finally arrested in Belgrade 13 years ago.

Isle of Wight County Press:

It is effectively Britain's turn to take responsibility for enforcing the sentence of the court under a shared international UN agreement.

Raab explained: "Karadzic is one of the few people to have been found guilty of genocide.

'He was responsible for the massacre of men, women and children at the Srebrenica genocide and helped prosecute the siege of Sarajevo with its remorseless attacks on civilians.

"We should take pride in the fact that, from UK support to secure his arrest, to the prison cell he now faces, Britain has supported the 30-year pursuit of justice for these heinous crimes."