Bosnian Army Ex-Soldier Convicted of Shooting War Prisoners

Konjic. Photo: BIRN BiH

The Cantonal Court in the city of Mostar has sentenced former Bosnian Army military policeman Zijad Padalovic to seven-and-a-half years in jail for crimes against prisoners of war in Buturovic Polje, near Konjic, in September 1993.

Padalovic was found guilty of killing of one prisoner and wounding two others, said the verdict, which was handed down in August but made public by the Mostar Cantonal Prosecution on Friday.

The indictment said that Padalovic, a wartime military policeman with the 45th Mountain Brigade of the Bosnian Army, fired several shots into a room where prisoners of war, members of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, were being held in Buturovic Polje on September 14, 1993.

Three prisoners were hit and one died from his injuries a day later.

“When passing the verdict, the court considered that the imposed sentence of seven years and six months in prison was sufficient when viewed from the perspective of the purpose of punishment as laid down by law, to express social condemnation of the crime committed and to influence the perpetrator and others not to commit criminal offences,” Mostar Cantonal Prosecution said in a statement.

The Cantonal Prosecution filed an appeal against the verdict to the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, complaining that sentence was too lenient.