Bosnian Serb Ex-Soldier Jailed for Murdering Two Bosniaks

Perisic and Zoranovic in the courtroom. Photo: Court of BiH

The Bosnian state court on Monday convicted Bozidar Perisic of shooting two Bosniak men dead in the village of Gracanica, near Rogatica, on June 19, 1992.

The bodies of victims Salem and Mustafa Sijercic were later burned by unknown members of the Bosnian Serb Army, and have still not been found.

“The chamber has found, beyond reasonable doubt, that Perisic deprived Salem and Mustafa Sijercic of their lives,” said presiding judge Davorin Jukic, adding that all the essential elements of a crime against humanity were met.

The court however acquitted Perisic of killing two other Bosniak men in the village of Gracanica on June 19, 1992.

He was also cleared of causing physical and psychological injuries to another Bosniak man and his son in the village of Satorovici, near Rogatica, on November 21, 1993.

Meanwhile former policeman Vinko Zoranovic was cleared of all charges of committing crimes including raping two women in Rogatica on the night of June 20-21, 1992.

The verdict said that one victim gave contradictory testimony, while there were doubts that the other victim had identified her assailant correctly because it was dark when she was attacked and she could only see his face when he lit a cigarette.

“The court trusts the injured parties that they were raped, but it has not been able to determine with certainty that the defendant did it,” Jukic said.

Perisic and Zoranovic were further cleared of persecuting the Bosniak civilian population on religious and ethnic grounds.

According to the charges, Perisic was a member of the First Podrinje Light Infantry Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, while Zoranovic worked at the police’s public security station in Rogatica.

The verdict can be appealed.