Mahmutovic Sentenced to One Year for Prisoner Abuse

After having negotiated a plea bargain with the prosecution, Mahmutovic received a reduced sentence.

Mahmutovic, former member of the 5th Battalion of military police with the Fifth Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, pleaded guilty to the inhumane treatment of prisoners of war, who were primarily former members of the Army of Republika Srpska. The prisoners were abused while being transported from Cazin to the Izacic border crossing in the municipality of Bihac in March 1995. They were being transported in order to be exchanged. Mahmutovic abused the prisoners in collaboration with several other persons.

The cantonal prosecution and Mahmutovic’s defense expressed their satisfaction with the verdict.

“The prosecution is satisfied with the fact that the court accepted the plea bargain. We consider that the criminal sanction is adequate considering the gravity of the crime,” said cantonal prosecutor Jasmin Mesic.

Defense attorney Ilijaz Midzic said that the only thing left was for Mahmutovic to serve his sentence.

“There are other legal options as well, so he might be released earlier after having served a part of what he considers a deserved sentence, although he was only twenty at the time and didn’t know what a war crime was,” Midzic said.

The cantonal court in Bihac previously sentenced Safet Kovacevic to eighteen months in prison for the same crime, while Husein Begic, Muhamed Anadolac, Abid Ljubijankic and Sabahudin Hafuric were acquitted of all charges.