Lazarevic et al: Prosecutors Call for Guilty Verdict
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State prosecutor Bozidarka Dodik rejected defence team allegations that Sreten Lazarevic, Dragan Stanojevic, Mile Markovic and Slobodan Ostojic did not know what their duties were in the detention centres in 1992 and 1993.
She called on the Appellate Chamber to sentence them for “the inhumane act they committed”.
“The indictees could choose not to beat up or allow others to beat up the prisoners despite the fact they did not get the respective instructions. We consider that the lack of adequate training did not affect the guards’ actions. Nothing but a proper sentence can fulfill the purpose of punishment and raise confidence in the judicial system of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Dodik said.
The men were sentenced by first instance verdict in September 2008 for war crimes committed in the Municipal Offence Court building and the Novi izvor factory premises in the town.
The former deputy supervisor of the detention centres, Lazarevic, was sentenced to 10 years in prison while former guard Stanojevic received seven years and guards Markovic and Ostojic five years each.
The defence appealed, and in September 2009 judges ordered a retrial.
The men are charged with the torture of Bosniaks from May 1992 to March 1993.
In her closing arguments, Dodik focused on Lazarevic’s command responsibility, saying there was “no material evidence confirming it” but that it was proved on the basis of numerous witness statements.
“We have proved by the statements given by witnesses that he had an effective control over the other indictees,” Dodik said, adding she also believed Lazarevic had an individual responsibility for beating up the detainees.
Lazarevic’s lawyer said there was no evidence proving his client’s “command responsibility or effective control over his subordinates which is the basic element of the mentioned responsibility”.
“Command responsibility comprises a series of duties which have to be proved. It is not enough just to say someone was a deputy manager,” said Radivoje Lazarevic.
The defence teams will continue presenting their closing arguments on September 7.
