Updated

United Nations appeals judges have upheld most of a Bosnian Serb army general's convictions and his life sentence for involvement in the 1995 Srebrenica genocide.

Gen. Zdravko Tolimir smiled and repeatedly crossed himself as Yugoslav war crimes tribunal President Judge Theodor Meron told him Wednesday that his life sentence was being confirmed on appeal.

Tolimir was convicted in December 2012 of genocide and other crimes in the 1995 massacre by Bosnian Serb forces of some 8,000 Muslim men in Srebrenica, eastern Bosnia — Europe's worst mass killing since World War II.

Meron overturned some elements of the convictions, but upheld the vast majority.

Tolimir was a trusted aide of former Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic. Witnesses at trial called him Mladic's "right hand," judges said in their original judgment.