Vlaco Sentenced to 13 Years Under New Sentence

The appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court has reduced Branko Vlaco’s sentence. Under the new decision, Vlaco has been sentenced 13 years in prison for war crimes committed in the Vogosca area near Sarajevo.

Vlaco was previously sentenced to 15 years in prison for participating in an attack by the Bosnian Serb Army against the non-Serb population in the territory of Vogosca, Ilijas and Center in 1992, and also for participating in the persecution of the Bosniak and Croat population.

Vlaco was found guilty of having established the Bunker detention camp, where detained civilians were held in inhumane conditions, slept on concrete floors and urinated and defecated into a barrel located inside the detention camp.

According to the first instance verdict pronounced last year, the detainees were tortured, forced to perform hard labour and used as human shields. Many of them did not return from those locations.

The Bosnian state prosecution appealed the verdict, and requested long-term imprisonment for Vlaco, while the defense asked the court to quash the verdict and order a retrial.

Vlaco also addressed the appeals chamber. He said he felt sorry for each victim and sympathized with the families who lost their loved ones.

The appeals chamber didn’t accept the Bosnian state prosecution’s appeal. It partially upheld the defense’s appeal and reduced Vlaco’s sentence by two years.

The parties do not have the right to appeal the verdict.