About Twenty More BiH Court Verdicts under Question

In addition to verdicts against ten people who have been released to liberty after the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina quashed their verdicts, the State Court pronounced 21 more verdicts sentencing indictees for genocide and war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war, according to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina instead of the Criminal Code of the former Yugoslavia.

Under the mentioned verdicts, the State Court sentenced 25 persons to 370 years in prison for committing genocide, crimes against civilians and prisoners of war.

Defence attorneys, representing clients in those cases, say that they have already filed appeals with the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, requesting it to quash the verdicts against their clients due to the wrong application of law.

Attorney Radivoje Lazarevic says that he filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court in 2011, after his client Radomir Vukovic had been pronounced guilty of having assisted in the commission of genocide and sentenced to 31 years in prison in accordance with the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“Following the Strasbourg Court’s decision in the case of Maktouf and Damjanovic, I amended the appeal and called on some of the stands contained in the decision. Considering the developments over the past month, I expect the same course of events in Vukovic’s case too,” Lazarevic said.

In addition to Vukovic, Milorad Trbic was sentenced to 30 years in prison, Zeljko Ivanovic to 24, Dusko Jevic to 32 and Mendeljev Djuric to
28 years for having committed genocide in Srebrenica. They were sentenced in accordance to the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Djuric’s Defence attorney Miodrag Stojanovic says that he filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a proposal for renewal of the trial with the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“It is absurd that a second instance verdict against Djuric was rendered in accordance with the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the European Court for Human Rights had passed down its ruling. Therefore, it looks like Strasbourg does not exist for the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Stojanovic said.

Applying the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2003, the State Court sentenced Sefik Alic, former member of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to ten years in prison for committing crimes against civilians and prisoners of war and Eso Macic to 13 years for crimes in Celebici detention camp. Ljubisa Vranjes and Mladen Milic were sentenced to eight years each for having committed crimes against civilians in Kotor-Varos. The same sentenced was pronounced against Zurahid Mujcinovic for crimes in Srebrenik.

Miodrag Markovic was sentenced to seven years for having committed war crimes against the civilian population in the Doboj area, while Marko Skrobic was sentenced to nine years for crimes in Kotor-Varos. Ivica Vrdoljak was sentenced to five years for war crimes against the civilian population. Vrdoljak was sentenced for having treated Serb detainees held in buildings in the Derventa and Bosanski Brod area in an inhumane manner.

Novak Djukic was sentenced to 25 years in prison for committing crimes against the civilian population in Tuzla, while Ante Kovac and Zrinko Pincic were sentenced to nine years each for crimes against civilians in Vitez and Konjic. Suad Kapic was sentenced to 17 years for war crimes against prisoners of war in the Sanski Most area.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced Sreten Lazarevic to ten years, Dragan Stanojevic to seven, and Mile Markovic and Slobodan Ostojic to five years each. They were sentenced for war crimes against the civilian population in Zvornik. Suljo Karajic was sentenced to 18 years for war crimes in the Bihac area.

A special situation will happen in the cases against Ratko Dronjak, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison for crimes against humanity and war crimes against the civ