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Kravica: 284 years for genocide

Kravica

29 July 2008  The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has announced its first instance verdict convicting seven former policemen for genocide in Srebrenica and acquitting four persons of all charges.

The Trial Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced a first instance verdict for genocide, sentencing seven former police members to 284 years' imprisonment in total and acquitting four of them of the charges.

By the first instance verdict the State Court sentenced Milenko Trifunovic, Aleksandar Radovanovic and Brano Dzinic to 42 years' imprisonment each, Milos Stupar, Slobodan Jakovljevic and Branislav Medan to 40 years' imprisonment and Petar Mitrovic to 38 years. The same verdict acquitted Velibor Maksimovic, Dragisa Zivanovic, Miladin Stevanovic and Milovan Matic of all charges. Immediately after the announcement of the verdict their custody was terminated.

Ten, of the eleven, indictees were members of the Second Special Police Squad from Sekovici, which was commanded by Milos Stupar, while Milovan Matic was member of the Republika Srpska Army, VRS.

The 11 indictees are charged with having participated in the shooting of more than 1,000 Bosniaks in Kravica village on July 13, 1995, after the fall of the United Nations's protected zone of Srebrenica.

"If any crime deserves the most severe punishment, it must be genocide. This is particularly true due to the way in which it was executed and due to such a large number of victims. A protected group of people was killed in a manner that represents an insult to human dignity, while being detained in inhumane conditions. The indictees used this situation and killed those men," Trial Chamber Chairman Hilmo Vucinic said.

The Trial Chamber pronounced the seven indictees guilty of three, out of five, counts contained in the indictment. At the same time it rejected some of the Prosecution's allegations, such as the one charging them with having "participated in the pillaging of detained Bosniaks" due to "a lack of evidence."

The Trial Chamber determined that an incident, in which a special policeman was killed, preceded the killing of civilians in Kravica. However, the Chamber rejected the Defence's claims that this was a "necessary defence."

"Witness S4 said that the shooting, which had lasted for an hour and a half, had first taken place in one part of the hangar and then in another part, adding that it had been followed by bomb throwing. Under such circumstances, one can hardly claim that this was a necessary defence, bearing in mind the planned and systematic execution," Hilmo Vucinic said.

The Trial Chamber determined that Milos Stupar was commander of the Second Squad at the referenced period of time, which the Defence denied during the course of the trial.

"He was a commander subordinated to the supreme command and superior to the operational staff in the field. It has not been proved that he was not aware of the fact that his men were going to execute the crime, but it has been proved that he found out about it later on, but still failed to undertake any actions to punish the perpetrators," Vucinic said.

Explaining the verdict the Trial Chamber said that it was not determined that the indictees participated in a joint criminal enterprise, because "the Prosecution has failed to prove elements of such criminal responsibility."

"Their responsibility could be best defined as a responsibility of direct perpetrators. Direct perpetrators do not necessarily have to be participants in a joint criminal enterprise. The evidence has not proved that they made an agreement with other people to commit the crime," the Trial Chamber considers.

At the same time the Chamber determined that the indictees, who were found guilty, did have "a special intention to exterminate Bosniaks from Srebrenica."

"They saw the wounded and exhausted men, thousands of whom had surrendered. The indictees knew that, by killing the men in Kravica, they participated in a permanent extermination of Bosniaks from Srebrenica. When the shooting stopped, Brano Dzinic started throwing bombs into the hangar. All this suggests that they invested an effort and persistence in making sure that there would be no survivors in the hangar," Hilmo Vucinic said, adding that, although the exact number of victims was not known, "the indictees deliberately killed hundreds of men for sure."

This is the first verdict for genocide passed before a court in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the same time this is the second such verdict handed down for crimes committed in this country during the course of the war. The first one was announced by the Hague Tribunal in 2004, sentencing Radislav Krstic to 35 years' imprisonment.

These sentences are the most severe ones, pronounced for crimes during the course of this war, with the exception of the lifetime imprisonment, to which the Hague Tribunal sentenced Stanislav Galic for the siege of Sarajevo.

Members of the Association of "Mothers of Srebrenica and Zepa", as well as family members and friends of the indictees, attended the announcing of the verdict.

"We hoped that all 11 indictees would be convicted. We think that this punishment is acceptable, although it was hard for us to see some of them being released. We have been waiting for this for a very long time," Association member Sabra Kolenovic says.

Zumra Sehomerovic of the same Association said that there was "a minimal gratification," adding that she hoped that "all criminals would be brought to justice and tried for the crimes they committed."

The Trial Chamber rendered a decision, exempting all indictees from payment of the trial costs, as well as a decision referring the mothers of Srebrenica and the injured parties to a legal suit.

Both parties have the right to appeal the verdict.