Sentence against Ratko Dronjak Appealed

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina requested at least 30 years of imprisonment for Ratko Dronjak, who was convicted of committing war crimes in Drvar. Dronjak’s defense attorney, on the other hand, requested that the court reduce his sentence.

Dronjak was the former manager of detention facilities in Drvar, and was sentenced to over ten years of imprisonment for the abuse of civilians and prisoners of war. He is charged with creating and enforcing a system of abuse for detainees who were held at the “Slavko Rodic” school building and the Kamenica detention camp.

Under Dronjak’s watch, prisoners were held in poor conditions and were beaten daily. 45 of them did not survive detention.

Dronjak was originally sentenced to 18 years in prison – this sentence was reduced to 15 years, due to an incorrect application of law.

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina removed the charge of war crimes against prisoners of war from the initial verdict, since Dronjak was sentenced according to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina instead of the Criminal Code of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Courts are required to apply laws which are more favourable to perpetrators in the case of war crimes, and the more favourable law in Dronjak’s case was the criminal code of the former Yugoslavia.

However, according to prosecutor Dzemila Begovic, there was no justification for reducing Dronjak’s sentence. She called upon the court to hand down a sentence of at least 30 years for Dronjak’s crimes in Drvar. She also requested that the court order Dronjak to cover the costs of the court proceedings.

Defense attorney Slobodan Peric said that the Appellate Chamber should shorten Dronjak’s sentence in accordance with previous legislation or annul it due to imprecise accusations.

Peric added that following the revocation of the second instance verdict, Dronjak’s status in terms of his stay in prison has not been clarified.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina also pronounced Dronjak guilty of crimes against humanity. This part of the verdict remains in effect.

The court will render a decision on Dronjak’s appeal at a later stage.