Appeals against Sakib Dautovic Verdict Presented
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Federal Prosecutor Dragan Stupar told the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, FBiH, that he stuck to an appeal, in which the Bihac Cantonal Prosecution requested the Court to pronounce a longer imprisonment sentence against Dautovic.
The Defence appealed due to alleged violations of the criminal proceedings and the Criminal Code, as well as wrongly and incompletely determined factual status. It proposed to the Court to either acquit the indictee of all charges or revoke the verdict and order a new trial.
In May last year the Bihac Cantonal Court pronounced Dautovic, who acted in collaboration with a few other members of the National Defence of the Western Bosnia Autonomous Region, WBAR, guilty of having apprehended 12 civilians, who were held in the Drmeljevo detention camp, to the Dispensary in Velika Kladusa, where they were brutally physically mistreated on June 18, 1994.
Besides that, Dautovic was among the individuals who took 15 detainees from Drmaljevo, including Rasim Erdic, who died due to being abused, in August 1994. According to the verdict, he led the Interventions Group for Guarding of the Buildings and Persons with the Ministry of Defence and military police of the WBAR National Defence.
Presenting its appeal, the Defence pointed out that the indictee was deprived of the right to a fair trial during the first instance process.
“During the entire course of the trial the Defence’s rights were at the minimal level. The Defence examined one witness, while the other Defence’s proposals were rejected by the Court. This is not even mentioned in the verdict,” said Defence attorney Tatjana Savic.
She also pointed out that the Prosecution had not proved the existence of an armed conflict, but it was considered a generally-acknowledged fact in the indictment.
The Federal Prosecutor proposed to the Court to reject the Defence’s appeal as unfounded, adding that he considered that the Defence’s rights had not been violated.
“We consider that the Court correctly presented the factual status,” Stupar said.
The Supreme Court of FBiH will render a decision concerning the appeals at a later stage.
