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The cantonal court in the town of Bihac on Wednesday found Vrtunic guilty of abusing a Bosniak man called Ale Strkunic and killing his wife and mother-in-law in the village of Mali Rejzovici near Kljuc in November 1992, together with two other fighters.
The defence said that Vrtunic was not in Kljuc on November 21, 1992, when the crime took place. The court, however, couldnt accept this alibi, especially since the witness Ale Strkunic recognised and named the perpetrators in the courtroom, said presiding judge Vojislav Pusac.
Pusac said that when determining the length of verdict, the judges accepted as mitigating circumstances the fact that the crime took place more than two decades ago and that Vrtunic had no previous convictions. As aggravating circumstances, the judges looked at the brutality of the crime.
Vrtunic was ordered to pay 3,150 euro in compensation to Strukunic within three months of the verdict.
He was originally charged alongside five other Bosnian Serb fighters, but the others admitted their guilt and have already been sentenced.
This verdict can be appealed at the Bosnian Federations supreme court.
