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The town of Janja. Photo: BIRN.
The Bosnian state court said in a statement on Monday that prosecution and defence appeals have been rejected and last year’s first-instance verdict convicting Milan Djokic, Branislav Trisic, Zoran Tanasic, Zarko Milanovic and Mladen Krajisnik of committing a war crime against Bosniak civilians has been confirmed.
Djokic and Trisic have been sentenced to three years in prison each and Tanasic, Milanovic and Krajisnik to two years each for torturing the civilians in the Janja area in the period from 1992 to 1994.
Djokic was found guilty, in his role as commander of the police station in Janja, of failing to prevent others from abusing civilians who had been detained for questioning about weapons.
Trisic was convicted of beating up three civilians with a metal stick and his fists, and Tanasic of beating up two civilians. The court found that Milanovic and Krajisnik each hit one civilian.
Three other defendants, Savo Mrsic, Milivoje Cobic and Milan Markovic, were acquitted of all charges.
The trial began in June 2016 and initially included three more defendants. Two of them, Vlado Stjepanovic and Ljubisa Ikic, have since died, while the third, Zoran Bogdanovic, was incapable of standing trial due to illness.
The second-instance verdict cannot be appealed.
