Bosnian Serb Ex-Soldier Jailed for 16 Years for Civilians’ Murders

The defendants (on the right, first and second rows) with their lawyers in court. Photo: Bosnian state court.

The appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court on Wednesday convicted Boro Milojica, a former member of the Sixth Company of the Bosnian Serb Army’s Ljubija Battalion, of committing multiple murders of civilians in July 1992.

Milojica was sentenced to 16 years in prison, while another former soldier from the Sixth Company, Zelislav Rivic, was acquitted.

The verdict said that Milojica, as a Bosnian Serb Army soldier who lived in the Prijedor area, was aware that there was a widespread and systematic attack on the area, and that he participated in attacks against Bosniak civilians in Hambarine.

“The witnesses’ testimonies are clear, convincing and trustworthy, leaving no doubts,” said presiding judge Dragomir Vukoje.

Milojica and Rivic were being retried after the appeals chamber quashed a first-instance verdict from June 2019 sentencing Milojica to eight years in prison and acquitting Rivic.

Wednesday’s verdict cannot be appealed.