Bosnia Court Sentences Two Serbs for Visegrad Crimes
In a first-instance verdict, the Trial Chamber of Bosnia’s state court ruled that the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina had proved that Momir and Petar Tasic committed crimes against humanity in Visegrad, eastern Bosnia, in 1992, and acquitted Mirko Tasic of charges.
“The injured parties were civilians and the defendants were members of the Visegradska Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, VRS, which the defence teams did not deny,” trial chamber chairwoman Mediha Pasic said in court on Thursday.
“Momir and Petar are sentenced, as co-perpetrators, for having committed the persecution of the Bosniak civilian population by participating in the forcible disappearance of civilians,” she continued, adding that Momir was also found guilty of having raped a victim, known as P-1.
The Chamber concluded that the witnesses had identified Momir as one of two persons who took P-1 and P-2 away and raped them, establishing that he committed the crime beyond reasonable doubt.
The verdict obliges him to pay the injured party P-1 25,000 Bosnian marks (around 12,500 euros) as compensation for non-material damage.
Commenting on the acquittal part of the verdict, Pasic said the Chamber was not able to determine that Mirko Tasic was the person known as Mire, and the identification of the defendant by witnesses was considered disputable, so he was acquitted.
The three were charged with having participated in the forcible disappearances of six Bosniak victims in June 1992, whom they had arrested, tortured and abused and then taken in the direction of the western Serbian town of Uzice, after which they had gone missing without a trace.
Mirko and Momir Tasic were charged also with the rape of two Bosniaks. According to the indictment, they were members of the Bosnian Serb Army, VRS, while Mirko Tasic was a member of the public Safety Station in Visegrad.
The Chamber said it considered the sentences commensurate with the gravity of the crime. The defendants were exempted from paying the court proceeding costs.
The parties have the right to appeal against the first-instance verdict.
