Verdict against Ratko Lavrnic Quashed

Under the verdict pronounced by the Bihac Cantonal Court in October 2012, Lavrnic, former member of the 17th Kljuc Brigade of the Republika Srpska Army, was acquitted of the charges that he came to Rejzovici hamlet on February 10, 1993 and killed three and wounded one Bosniak civilian.

The Bihac Cantonal Prosecution appealed the verdict due to the violation of the criminal proceedings and wrongly and incompletely determined factual status. In its appeal the Prosecution proposed to the Court to quash the first instance verdict and order a retrial.

At the same time the Defence of the indictee proposed that the Cantonal Prosecution’s appeal be rejected and first instance verdict confirmed.

After having considered the appeal, the Supreme Court of FBiH determined that the first instance court had made a substantive violation of the criminal proceedings.

“In the explanation of its verdict the first instance Court failed to provide a complete and specific list of the facts, which it considered proved or not proved, and to list the reasons for that. This gave rise to a series of suspicions concerning the relevant facts, which form the basis for determining the indictee’s guilt,” the Court’s decision says.