Sentences for Zvornik Crimes Reduced

The sentence against Sreten Lazarevic was reduced from nine to seven years in prison. The sentence against Dragan Stanojevic was reduced from seven to five years in prison. Slobodan Ostojic’s sentence was reduced from five to three and a half years in prison.

They were found guilty of assault and the inhumane treatment of detainees in Zvornik. Under the new verdict, they were sentenced according to the criminal law of the former Yugoslavia instead of the criminal code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Appeals chamber chairman Mirza Jusufovic said the defendant was a family man who hadn’t been previously sentenced for a crime. He said his correct behaviour during the trial and the fact that some witnesses said he helped detainees were considered mitigating circumstances.

As far as Lazarevic and Stanojevic are concerned, the chamber considered the high quantity of their criminal acts, the persistence of their criminal activity, as well as the fact that they were police officers as aggravating circumstances.

This case was renewed after the Bosnian state court partially repealed the second instance verdict from September 2010 on April 15, 2015. The second instance verdict found Lazarevic, Stanojevic and Ostojic guilty.