Request for Retrial of Goran Damjanovic Rejected
06 September 2010 The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has rejected a request for the retrial of Goran Damjanovic, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison for war crimes committed in Bojnik, Sarajevo.
In August this year Goran Damjanovic filed a motion asking the Court to conduct a retrial in his case because “new pieces of evidence” had appeared “which could not be presented at the main trial despite due attention and caution”.
In December 2007 a second instance verdict was pronounced against Damjanovic and his brother Zoran, sentencing him for having participated, as a member of the Army of the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in beating up “a group of twenty or thirty” captured Bosniaks in Bojnik settlement, Novi grad municipality, on June 2, 1992. Goran was sentenced to 11 years in prison and Zoran to ten years and six months.
Explaining why he was not able to contact the witness previously, Goran Damjanovic said the person was not familiar with the criminal proceedings regulations and that he only recently contacted his family and said he had got potentially useful information.
“Taking into consideration the complete evidence material, the evidence proposed in this motion can in no way affect the indictee’s criminal responsibility, previously determined by the Court,” the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina said in its decision, rejecting the convict’s request.
The Court explained that Goran Damjanovic’s defence was based on an alibi- the allegation that he was not present at the crime scene, adding that the verdict contained a detailed explanation of why this allegation was rejected.
The parties have the right to appeal the State Court’s decision.
Goran Damjanovic is serving his sentence in the Penal and Correctional Facility in Foca. He filed the retrial motion with the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina through the Facility Management.
Justice Report is a
specialist reporting agency focusing on war crimes trials taking place before
local courts; development of the local legal system; and efforts to come to
terms with the past.
Read more
TRIAL: A Slap in the Face of Justice Expectations
Bosnian authorities have failed to provide access to justice and reparations for thousands of victims of rape and other sexual violence – says a report carried out by the Swiss organisation TRIAL.
Read more
Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
The opinions expressed in Balkan Insight are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network
Komentari:
Nema komentara.