Defence Presents Appeal against Sabit Skampo Verdict

Defence attorney Nijaz Djuliman filed the appeal due to violations of the criminal proceedings, incomplete determined factual status and violations of the Criminal Code.  

Federal Prosecutor Jasna Pecanac said that she stuck to a proposal by the Mostar Cantonal Prosecution that the Defence’s appeal be rejected as unfounded and the first instance verdict confirmed.

On November 5, 2012 the Cantonal Court in Mostar sentenced Sabit Skampo, former member of the 44th Brigade of the Fourth Corps with the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, to six years in prison for crimes against civilians in Doljani village, Jablanica municipality.

Under the first instance verdict, Skampo was pronounced guilty of having fired a rifle grenade on Ivan Zaric’s house on July 28, 1993. Zaric died three days later due to injuries caused by the explosion.

Defence attorney Djuliman said that the right to defence was violated during this trial, because a proposal to examine one witness was rejected.

“The witnesses, whom the Defence proposed, were irrelevant for this proceeding. The Court did not explain why it refused to accept our evidence,” Djuliman said.

Also, he said that an armed conflict happened in the Doljani area and that his client was present in the area only “after the military operation had been completed”.

“My client says that he arrived at the locality later on. Even if he had been present, he could not have committed the crime with direct premeditation,” Djuliman said.

The indictee addressed the Court, saying that he “has nothing to do with this case” and the whole thing was “imposed” on him.

The Defence said that it had come across a document, saying that the injured party was a soldier, so it wanted to present it as new evidence. Federal Prosecutor Pecanac said that the mentioned piece of evidence “went beyond the framework of the appeal.”

The Supreme Court of FBiH will render a decision concerning the appeals at a later stage.