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On January 16, 2012 the Cantonal Court in Novi Travnik sentenced Kristo, former member of the Croatian Defence Forces, to two years in prison for having cut off Hasan Behlo’s ear with a machete in February 1993. Behlo was a prisoner of war, member of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Defence appealed the verdict due to violation of the Criminal Code and duration of pronounced sentence, requesting the Court to reclassify the crime into “cruel treatment of prisoners” and pronounce a shorter sentence against Kristo.
After having considered the appeal, the Supreme Court of FBiH determined that the Defence’s requests were unfounded and confirmed the verdict pronounced by the Cantonal Court in Novi Travnik.
“Cutting a prisoner’s outer ear, causing a severe bodily injury to him, which also had the features of mutilation, represents an action by which the injured party’s bodily integrity was violated. Among other things, this action represents a significant element of war crime against prisoners of war,” the Supreme Court’s decision says.
The Court said that the Defence’s appeal did not contain any concrete objections that would bring the first instance Court’s conclusion regarding the severity of the injury into question.
“This Court has determined that the appealed verdict correctly determined that the two-year imprisonment sentence would achieve the goals of special and general prevention of crimes,” the Supreme Court said.
