Brothers Goran and Zoran Damjanovic, who have been sentenced to 12-and-a-half years for crimes in Bojnik near Sarajevo, have been released from prison on parole, the Bosnian Court said.
The Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, BiH, confirms a verdict under which Goran and Zoran Damjanovic were sentenced to a total of 12-and-a-half years in prison for having committed war crimes against the civilian population in the Sarajevo area.
Two Bosnian Serb brothers convicted of abusing Bosniak prisoners near Sarajevo in 1992 asked the appeals court for lower sentences because of the absence of fatal consequences.
Applying a decision by the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina reduces sentences against both Zoran and Goran Damjanovic by four and a half years. Goran Damjanovic is sentenced to six and a half years for war crimes against the civilian population, while his brother Zoran is sentenced to six years.
At the renewed trial against Goran and Zoran Damjanovic, who are charged with war crimes, the Defence teams call for verdicts of release or minimal sentences according to the former Yugoslav law in the event that they are found guilty. The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina calls for an imprisonment sentence.
The new trial will not reconsider the guilt of brothers Goran and Zoran Damjanovic, whose war crimes verdict was quashed because the wrong criminal code was used at their original trial.
The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina neither decided on whether war crimes trials should be renewed completely due to the wrong application of the law nor if convicts sentenced to long-term imprisonment should be released to liberty, says the Court President Valerija Galic.
The EU and international organisations in Bosnia expressed concerns after ten war crimes and genocide convicts were set free because they were tried under the wrong criminal code.
The new trial of Goran Damjanovic and Zoran Damjanovic is due to begin on November 21, when the indictment will be read and introductory statements presented. At the same hearing the Court will begin hearing witnesses statements.
Judicial institutions were urged to make changes to ensure fairness after a European human rights court ruling led to the overturning of verdicts against several convicted war criminals.