Local Justice – Despot: Appeals by Prosecution and Defence

The Cantonal Prosecution in Bihac filed the appeal, which the Prosecution of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, FBiH, supported because the sentence pronounced against Despot in September 2010 was “inadequate”.“We abide by the appeal filed by the Bihac Cantonal Prosecution. The first instance Court correctly determined the facts, but the sentence it pronounced does not correspond to the crime. We therefore suggest that the Court pronounces a longer sentence in order to fulfill the purpose of punishment,” FBiH Prosecutor Vlado Miskovic explained.The Defence considers the Cantonal Prosecution’s allegations “groundless” and asked that the verdict be revoked. The Supreme Court of FBiH will render its decision at a later stage.In September 2010 the Cantonal Court in Bihac sentenced Despot to 12 years in prison for having killed civilians Enver Bahtagic and Ejub Bajramovic in the summer of 1992.The verdict says that the indictee found Bahtagic and Bajramovic, “with the aim of clarifying the circumstances surrounding his wounding, which had happened in Krasulje village”, Kljuc municipality, and took them to the police station in Kljuc.On the way to Kljuc, in the vicinity of Ramici village, Despot killed the two men with an automatic gun.At this hearing Defence attorney Vesna Rujevic called on the Court to revoke the verdict pronounced by the Cantonal Court and terminate the custody measure.“The Cantonal Court in Bihac has not paid the fee to my client which would enable us to collect further evidence. The Defence wanted to examine several witnesses but given the fact we have not received the advance payment, we have not been able to contact or prepare them,” Rujevic said.S.U.———————————————————————————————–This article is made possible by the support of the American People through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.) The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of Balkan investigative reporting network (BIRN) and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.