Prosecution Calls for Conviction at Retrial of Territorial Defense Members Accused of Attacking Kotor Varos Civilians

Fikret Planincic, Sead Menzil and Mirsad Vatrac have been charged with participating in an attack on the village of Serdari in the Kotor Varos area on September 17, 1992. Sixteen civilians, including women and children, were killed during the attack.

Under a first instance verdict handed down in January 2014, Planincic and Menzil were found guilty of participating in the Serdari attack and were sentenced to 11 and a half years in prison. Vatrac was also found guilty and was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison. The appeals chamber repealed the verdict and ordered a retrial.

Presenting his closing statement at today’s hearing, prosecutor Stanko Blagic said the village of Serdari wasn’t part of the conflict zone at the time and that residents kept watch over the village.

“Court expert Dragomir Keserovic confirmed there was no combat activity in the village. They were outside the conflict zone. Civilians, women and children were in the village. The elderly and minors organized the local village watch,” Blagic said.

Blagic said witness testimony confirmed that the attack happened in the morning with gunfire coming from all directions, killing and wounding civilians. All three defendants participated in planning and conducting the attack, Blagic said.

“It was their joint goal, meaning the result of an agreement,” he said.

“Witness Radmila Serdar said the attack took place in her house, that’s when most of the civilians got killed. She gave a trustworthy and detailed description of the forcible intrusion into her home. She recognized Planincic’s voice, whom she had known from before,” Blagic said.

Blagic said witness and Serdari resident Gina Kukric recognized Menzil and Vatrac during the attack. She also recognized the defendants in photos shown to her in the courtroom.

Blagic also reminded the court of testimony given by Paso Cirkic, who said he knew Vatrac would participate in the attack on the village and saw him carrying a rifle, which he later found in a house in Serdari.

“Cirkic saw and heard Gina addressing Vatrac, asking him, ‘Schoolmate, what’s going on?,’” Blagic said.

Blagic proposed that the appeals chamber consider the following aggravating circumstances when deliberating the verdict: the severity of civilian injuries, the death of 16 civilians (including two girls), as well as the unscrupulousness shown by the defendants.

The trial will continue on January 14, when the defense will present its closing statement.