Koricanske stijene: A Total of 86 Years in Prison

Under the first instance verdict, Zoran Babic, Milorad Skrbic, Dusan Jankovic and Zeljko Stojnic were pronounced guilty of participating in a joint criminal enterprise in Prijedor municipality, which was conducted with the aim of persecuting, robbing and killing non-Serb civilians during the course of 1992.

The State Court sentenced both Babic and Skrbic, former members of the Interventions Squad with the Public Safety Station in Prijedor, to 22 years’ imprisonment and Stojnic, member of the same Squad, to 15 years in prison for the murder of more than 150 male civilians committed at Koricanske stijene on August 21, 1992.

The Court pronounced Dusan Jankovic, former Commander of the Public Safety Station in Prijedor, guilty of having ordered the murders committed on Mount Vlasic, sentencing him to 27 years in prison.

“After having assessed all pieces of evidence, the Court determined, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Babic, Skrbic and Stojnic participated, as members of the Interventions Squad, in guarding of a convoy of non-Serb civilians who were forcibly resettled from Prijedor, and separating and shooting more than 150 male civilians on Mount Vlasic, while Dusan Jankovic, as the most senior officer among them, issued the order to kill those men,” Trial Chamber Chairwoman Minka Kreho said.

Dusan Jankovic did not attend the hearing at which the verdict was pronounced. His Defence attorney Ranko Dakic said he had been told that “the car broke down”.

After pronouncing the verdict, Kreho said that the Police Station in Prijedor, the State Investigation and Protection Agency, SIPA, and border crossing officers have been informed about Jankovic’s failure to appear in court in order to make sure the indictee does not flee.

Indictee Milorad Radakovic was acquitted of all charges because the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina determined that he participated in the convoy, on August 21, 1992, “as a medical worker with the Public Safety Station in Prijedor” and he did not participate in the preparation of a plan for separating and killing the civilians.

“A number of Prosecution and Defence witnesses said that Radakovic spent the entire time in the bus. He therefore could not have been present at the execution location,” Kreho said.

The Trial Chamber ordered a nine-month custody of Jankovic, as well as Babic, Skrbic and Stojnic, who have defended themselves while at liberty under certain prohibiting measures, also terminating the prohibiting measures against Radakovic.

The Trial Chamber Chairwoman said that, when making its decision about the duration of the sentence, the Court considered Babic’s “severe health condition” and the fact that some witnesses said that Skrbic “protected some civilians in the bus he escorted” as mitigating circumstances.

“At the referenced time Stojnic was less than 21 years old. The Court was therefore not able to sentence him to long-term imprisonment,” Kreho said.

Under the first instance verdict, the injured parties and families of the victims have been advised to settle their legal and property claims through a civil suit, while the Court exempted the five former members of the Public Safety Station in Prijedor from paying the trial costs.

The trial for the murders committed at Koricanske stijene began in March 2009. Damir Ivankovic, Gordan Djuric and Ljubisa Cetic, were originally charged under the indictment, but were sentenced to 14, eight and 13 years in prison respectively, after admitting guilt.