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At the retrial of Miodrag Markovic, the defense requested a reduced sentence, while the prosecution said Markovic’s initial sentence should have been longer. Markovic, a former Bosnian Serb Army soldier, was found guilty of the rape of a minor in the municipality of Doboj.
Markovic’s trial was renewed, after Bosnia’s constitutional court rescinded the first instance verdict due to a wrong application of law. The constitutional court found that the criminal code of the former Yugoslavia should have been used in Markovic’s sentencing, and not the criminal code of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The criminal code of the former Yugoslavia offers more favourable sentences to perpetrators.
In 2011, the Bosnian state court pronounced a second instance verdict which sentenced Markovic to seven years in prison for his rape of a minor in the village of Dragalovci in the municipality of Doboj. The constitutional court revoked the portion of the verdict referring to the application of law.
The state prosecution said a reduced sentence for Markovic wouldn’t punish him adequately.
“The sentence pronounced against the defendant was shorter than it should have been. The first instance chamber considered the fact that the defendant raped a person and pronounced a shorter sentence…the Bosnian state court did not consider, to a sufficient extent, the young age of the injured party, who was 17 at the time,” prosecutor Vladimir Simovic said.
Simovic said Markovic never expressed regrets or remorse for his actions.
Defense attorney Svetlana Lazic said the criminal code of the former Yugoslavia suited her client better, considering the fact it provided more favourable sentences for perpetrators.
“My client has already been serving his sentence for four years. His family situation is very difficult. His son is severely ill. No members of his family are employed,” Lazic said. Lazic also said Markovic stood trial twenty years after the crime took place.
The appellate chamber will render its decision at a later stage.
