Mladjenovic Jailed for Burning Houses in Bratunac

The court in Sarajevo on Tuesday found Mladjenovic guilty of the destruction of property by showing a group of Serb soldiers which Bosniak homes to burn, and also of torching a house himself.

But he was cleared of charges accusing him of having command responsibility for murders and the destruction of property during the attacks on the villages of Glogova and Hranca in May 1992.

His co-defendant Savo Zivkovic was acquitted of all charges.

They were orginally indicted for allegedly taking part in a widespread and systematic attack on civilians in Bratunac and helping the persecution of non-Serbs through arrests, abuse and the destruction of property.

But the judge said that the prosecution had failed to prove that Mladjenovic was the deputy commander of the Territorial Defence Reconnaissance Section, which was allegedly involved in the attack, or even to prove which armed group was responsible for the violence in one of the two villages, Hranca.

“Even if we had accepted that he commanded and gave the orders listed in the indictment, none of the witnesses in this case heard those orders,” said presiding judge Zeljka Marenic.

Marenic added that it was also not proved that Mladjenovic committed the crimes in Glogova because witness testimonies were inconclusive.

Despite being originally charged with crimes against humanity, the court instead convicted Mladjenovic of crimes against the civilian population because, Marenic said, the prosecution failed to prove the existence of a “widespread and systematic attack on Bosniak civilians”.

As mitigating circumstances, the court took into account the fact that Mladjenovic was a father of three without previous convictions and had shown a positive attitude towards post-war Bosniak returnees.

The court said it would count the time Mladjenovic has already spent in custody towards his sentence. The verdict can be appealed.