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The former Nikola Mackic elementary school in Kljuc, where the crime was committed. Photo: BIRN.
The Supreme Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Federation entity on Wednesday upheld the verdict convicting Milenko Macanovic of committing war crimes against the civilian population in the western town of Kljuc in 1992.
The verdict confirmed the first-instance judgment handed down by the Cantonal Court in Bihac, which found Macanovic responsible for the murder of one civilian and the inhumane treatment of another, and sentenced him to five-and-a-half years in prison.
In the first-instance verdict, the court found that a large number of Bosniak civilians were detained and taken for questioning in the gymnasium of the Nikola Mackic elementary school in Kljuc.
According to the verdict, Macanovic, also known as Macan, then entered the hall and asked policeman Sima Vujicic: “Is there anyone who has not been interrogated?” Macanovic added: “They should not be interrogated; they should all be killed.”
“Together with Simo Vujicic, he approached Fikret Zukanovic and Ifet Vuckic, gave them police batons, and ordered them to beat each other or they would be killed,” the verdict said.
“When they saw that they were not hitting each other hard enough, the accused Macanovic said: ‘Now you will see what beating should look like’, took a bat, and started hitting them with the bat and kicking them all over their bodies,” it added.
The court found beyond any reasonable doubt that while beating them, Macanovic also insulted them using a derogatory term for Muslims.
“At one point, with all his force, he kicked Ifet Vuckic in the temple area with his foot, on which he was wearing a military boot, after which Vuckic fell, jerking his legs and arms, and died on the spot,” the first-instance verdict said.
Macanovic challenged the first-instance verdict, claiming that the facts and the evidence had been incorrectly assessed, but the Federation Supreme Court rejected his appeal.
