New Verdict against Pekez and Savic on December 18

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina quashed the second instance verdict against Pekez and Savic, under which they were sentenced to 14 and 21 years in prison for crimes against the civilian population, on October 22, 2013 due to the wrong application of law.

They were sentenced according to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the Constitutional Court of BiH considered that the Criminal Code of the former Yugoslavia should have been applied, considering that shorter sentences could have been pronounced according to that law.

Under the second instance verdict, which was quashed, Pekez and Savic were sentenced for crimes committed in Tisovac village, near Jajce, where 23 Bosniak civilians were killed on September 10, 1992.

At the renewed main trial, during which only one hearing was held, Nebojsa Pantic, Defence attorney of Savic, presented a document issued by the Foca prison referring to the way his client behaved while serving his sentence prior to the revocation of the second instance verdict.
 
Pantic said that this document was important for determining the duration of sentence.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Defence of Pekez did not present any new pieces of evidence. The parties to the proceedings agreed not to present evidence from the previous trial again.

The Defence attorneys said that they expected the Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to reduce the sentences against the indictees significantly, applying the Criminal Code of the former Yugoslavia, which prescribed a sentence lasting from five to 15, or 20 years in prison for crimes against the civilian population.

Pekez and Savic spent about six years in prison. The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina released them to liberty in mid-November 2013 after the Constitutional Court of BiH had quashed the second instance verdict against them.