The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia on Thursday confirmed the verdict of the Trial Chamber for Mico Stanisic and Stojan Zupljanin, two former high ranked Serb officials in BiH, to be punished with 22 years in prison.
Mico Stanisic is the former Minister of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, and Stojan Zupljanin is the former Chief of the Regional Centre for Security Services of Banja Luka.
They are accused for participating in a joint criminal enterprise whose aim was to permanently remove Bosniaks, Croats and other non-Serb population from the territory “of the planned Serbian state” in BiH.
The Trial Chamber concluded that Stanisic and Zupljanin participated in this endeavor and that they were able to predict many of the crimes that were committed in several municipalities in BiH.
The Chamber sentenced Stanisic and Zupljanin to 22 years in prison each for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in BiH in 1992.
The session of the Trial Chamber lasted for 354 days, during which they included statements of 199 witnesses and 4,400 evidence into evidence material.
Since its establishment, the International Criminal Tribunal indicted a total of 161 persons for serious violations of humanitarian law committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991.
Proceedings against 151 persons have been completed, while proceedings against 10 persons are currently taking place.
(Source: Balkans.aljazeera.net)
