Lazarevic et al: Verdict Due on September 20
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After having heard closing arguments from the State Prosecution and Defence teams, the Appellate Chamber decided the final verdict would be pronounced on September 20, 2010.
The Defence attorneys argued that, because the Prosecution had not presented a single new piece of evidence at the retrial, the Appellate Chamber should not trust the witnesses’ statements on which the first instance verdict, rejected by the Court, was based.
“It is not possible to render a decision, beyond a reasonable doubt, on the basis of these statements. I consider there are no elements of inhumane treatment committed by my client,” Miodrag Stojanovic, Defence attorney for Slobodan Ostojic, said.
In September 2008 the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina pronounced a first instance verdict sentencing Sreten Lazarevic, Dragan Stanojevic, Mile Markovic and Slobodan Ostojic, former members of reserve forces with the Public Safety Station in Zvornik, to a total of 27 years in prison for war crimes against civilians.
The Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina accepted the Defence appeals in September 2009, revoking the verdict and ordering a retrial.
The State Prosecution charged the indictees with participation in the beating of prisoners held in the Municipal Offence Court and “Novi Izvor” factory buildings in Zvornik from May 1992 to March 1993.
Lazarevic, former Deputy Supervisor of the detention centers, was sentenced to ten years in prison by the first instance verdict, while former guard Stanojevic was sentenced to seven. Markovic and Ostojic, both former guards, were each sentenced to five years in prison.
Milos Peric, Defence attorney for indictee Stanojevic, said the Prosecution had not presented any new pieces of evidence supporting the statements given by witnesses.
“The Prosecution is calling upon a few witnesses who gave unclear and contradictory statements about the events in which Stanojevic participated. (…) Many witnesses gave extremely positive assessments of my client, while only two or three witnesses spoke about alleged incriminating actions,” Peric said.
The Defence attorney for the third indictee argued that the Prosecution witness who claimed to have been beaten up by Markovic “did not tell the truth”, because his statements were contradictory to statements given by other Prosecution witnesses.
“The injured party did not even recognize Mile Markovic in the courtroom, although he blamed him for those actions. All other Prosecution witnesses managed to identify him,” Defence attorney Nenad Rubez said.
The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina presented its closing arguments on August 31, when it called on the Appellate Chamber to find the four indictees guilty on all charges contained in the indictment.
