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At today’s hearing of the Eso Macic retrial at the Bosnian state court, Macic’s defense attorney said his sentence should be reduced. The prosecution, on the other hand, proposed that Macic be sentenced as per the law.
Macic’s case was a granted a retrial when the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina revoked a second instance verdict which sentenced Macic to thirteen years in prison.
The constitutional court decided that the criminal code of the former Yugoslavia, which provides more favourable sentences to perpetrators, should have been applied in his case, and not the criminal code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
As a result, the Bosnian state court ordered a retrial in order to discuss the duration of Macic’s sentence.
Macic, a former member of the Bosnian Army, was found guilty of crimes against the Serb population in the Celebici detention camp in the municipality of Konjic. In 2013, he was found guilty of murdering Milorad Kuljanin, participating in the beating of Scepo Gotovac (who died afterwards), and participating in three other instances of prisoner abuse.
Macic was acquitted of charges contained in two counts.
Bosnian state prosecutor Miroslav Janjic proposed that the appellate chamber hand down a sentence in accordance with the laws of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
“We consider that the gravity of the crime, the two murders in the Celebici detention camp and continuity in undertaking other actions in the detention camp should be taken into consideration,” Janjic said.
Defense attorney Kadrija Kolic said custody measures and the sentence should be terminated, because they breached Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
“I would like to point out that the court should take into account the defendant’s age and his good conduct during the trial. He denied the allegations contained in the indictment and exercised his right to a defense attorney,” Kolic said, adding that any criminal sanction longer than eight years would be too harsh.
Kolic provided the court with a decision issued by the Ministry of War Veterans from Mostar, which stated that the defendant was a disabled person.
The appellate chamber will render its decision at a later stage.
