Verdict in Zvornik War Crimes Case Expected June 9
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Under a second instance verdict dated April 15, 2015, Lazarevic was sentenced to nine years in prison, Stanojevic seven, and Ostojic five. They were found guilty of the assault and inhumane treatment of prisoners in Zvornik.
The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina partially repealed the second instance verdict due to an incorrect application of law, which sentenced Lazarevic, Stanojevic and Ostojic to a total of 21 years in prison. The appeals chamber will render a decision with regards to application of law and the sentencing.
Milos Peric, Stanojevic’s defense attorney, said the conditions for holding the retrial hadn’t been met. According to Peric, after the constitutional court decision, a process on holding a new trial should have been held before the retrial began. The chamber said this issue wasn’t the subject of the hearing, but rather the facts referring to the duration of sentence.
The Bosnian state prosecution said it hadn’t obtained any new evidence that would affect the duration of the sentence, and said the constitutional court decision was clear.
Peric asked the court to consider the special mitigating circumstances in the case, pointing out that Stanojevic had already served four years, four months and 13 days of his sentence.
Miodrag Stojanovic, Ostojic’s defense attorney, said his client should have been sentenced to one year in prison according to the criminal law of the former Yugoslavia.
“He has served his sentence. As a convict, he’s behaved correctly. Today he’s just a ruined man,” Stojanovic said.
Stojanovic also pointed out that his client had been released conditionally from prohibitive measures during the trial.
