Serbia's government on Friday criticised what it termed the "selective" justice of the UN war crimes tribunal that handed a genocide conviction and 40-year sentence to wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.

"All justice that leads to the conviction of one people for crimes that were committed by everyone is selective," said Justice Minister Nikola Selakovic, after a government meeting on Thursday's ruling from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.