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In its announcement the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina said that the Constitutional Court of BiH adopted an appeal filed by convict Zrinko Pincic, determined that, according to the European Convention, the indictee’s rights were violated, and ordered to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to render this decision urgently.
“According to the decision on discontinuation of the execution of sentence, convict Zrinko Pincic is being released to liberty immediately,” the announcement said.
Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced Pincic to nine years in prison for having raped one person several times during the war.
The Court determined that Pincic, former member of the Croatian Defence Council, used to come to a house, where Serb civilians, including women and children, were detained, in Donje Selo village, Konjic municipality, from November 1992 to March 1993.
According to the verdict, on several occasions he took person A from the room, where the other civilians were held, to another room, where he forced her to have sexual intercourse with him.
In November this year the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina released ten other persons, who were sentenced to between 14 and 33 years in prison for having committed war crimes and genocide, due to the wrong application of the law.
Those decisions were rendered after the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, acting on appeals filed by the war crimes convicts and in accordance with the ruling by the European Court for Human Rights in Maktouf and Damjanovic case, had rendered decisions, obliging the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina to apply provisions of the law, which was in force when the crimes were committed, instead of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to which the convict was sentenced.
