Bosnia’s Constitutional Court rejected former Bosnian Serb Army military policeman Dragan Marjanovic’s appeal against the verdict convicting him of participating in the murders of 28 Bosniaks on Mount Borje near Teslic in 1992.
The Appeals Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has reduced the prison sentences for four Bosnian Serb former soldiers to a total of 59 years for participation in the murder of 28 civilians on Mount Borje, near the town of Teslic, in 1992.
Under a first instance verdict in July last year, Dragan Marjanovic, Sasa Gavranovic, Vitomir Devic and Zoran Sljuka were each sentenced to 17 years in prison for the murders.
Five former Bosnian Serb military policemen appealed against their convictions for involvement in the killings of 28 Bosniak civilians on Mount Borje near Teslic in 1992.
Former Bosnian Serb military policemen Dragan Marjanovic, Sasa Gavranovic, Vitomir Devic, Zoran Sljuka and Dragomir Kezunovic launched an appeal against their convictions for crimes against humanity at the Bosnian state court in Sarajevo on Friday.
The state court in Sarajevo told BIRN on Thursday that it issued an international warrant for the arrest of Dragomir Kezunovic on July 20 after he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his involvement in the shooting of 28 civilians in the Teslic area in 1992.
Kezunovic attended the trial of his own free will although he lives in Serbia, but was not present for reading of the first-instance verdict in July this year, when he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for committing crimes in Teslic.
Five former Bosnian Serb military policemen were sentenced to a total of 82 years in prison for their role in the killings of 28 Bosniak civilians on Mount Borje near Teslic in 1992.
The Bosnian state court on Thursday convicted Dragan Marjanovic, Sasa Gavranovc, Vitomir Devic, Zoran Sljuka and Dragomir Kezunovic of taking 28 Bosniak civilians from the Teslic police station and Pribinic prison on the night between June 17 and 18, 1992 to Mount Borje, where they were all killed.
Testifying at the trial of five former Bosnian Serb fighters charged with crimes in the Teslic area, a defense witness and former fighter described an order issued to shoot Bosniak captives in the village of Rankovic at the beginning of the summer of 1992.
A defense witness testifying at the trial of six defendants charged with crimes in Teslic said members of the Mice paramilitary formation terrorized the city during the summer of 1992.
Dario Slavuljica, one of six defendants charged with wartime crimes in the municipality of Teslic, signed a guilt admission agreement which has been filed with the trial chamber.
Defense witnesses testified at the trial of six former members of the Bosnian Serb Army and Mice paramilitary formation. The witnesses said defendant Zoran Sljuka and Ljubisa Petricevic were Mice members with the highest amount of responsibility for attacks conducted on the villages of Stenjak and Rankovici in June 1992. The attacks were part of an operation led by Serb military and police formations aimed at disarming the village residents.
Testifying in his own defense at the trial of six former Bosnian Serb fighters charged with crimes committed in Teslic, Dario Slavuljica said fighters who shot civilians on Mount Borje couldn’t reject the order to do so.