Defence Calls for Shorter Sentence

Stipe Kristo was sentenced by the Cantonal Court in Novi Travnik on January 16, 2012 to two years in prison for having committed a crime against prisoner of war Hasan Behlo, former member of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, whose ear he cut off with a machete in February 1993.The Defence filed an appeal against the verdict, requesting the Court to reclassify the crime into the cruel treatment of prisoners and pronounce a shorter sentence.“My client honestly admitted the crime he committed, expressed regrets due to his actions and readiness to pay compensation to the injured party. However, the injured party’s claim is so high that it is impossible to meet its conditions,” said Defence attorney Branka Praljak.According to her, the first instance Chamber did not give sufficient importance to mitigating circumstances.“At that time he was a young man. It was easy to persuade him to commit an illegal action. He is ready to bear the responsibility for what he did, but I consider that the sentence could have been shorter,” Praljak said.Federal Prosecutor Alma Tiric proposed to the Court to reject the Defence’s appeal as unfounded.“The indictee admitted guilt only after the witnesses had been examined. At that moment he admitted the crime and its legal classification,” said Tiric, mentioning that the minimal sentence prescribed for the crime for which Kristo was sentenced was five years in prison. While mentioning that the injured party request compensation to the amount of 100,000 Euros, Tiric said that, had he wanted to do it the indictee would have pay at least a part of the claimed amount.Indictee Kristo, who lives in Austria with his family, did not attend this hearing. He previously informed his Defence attorney that it was not easy for him to be absent from work.The Supreme Court Chamber will render a decision concerning the appeal at a later stage.