The Cantonal Court in Sarajevo handed down a verdict sentencing Ibrahim Ceco, a former member of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), to one and a half years in prison for a war crime against the civilian population in the Sarajevo settlement of Dobrinja committed in September 1992.
The chairwoman of the court panel, Melika Murtezic, said that the court panel, based on the evidence presented by the Sarajevo Canton Prosecutor’s Office, was convinced that the accused Ceco had committed the criminal offense charged against him. She stated that the verdict was passed on the basis of the testimony of the injured party, Slobodan Vucicevic, who described in detail the events that happened 30 years ago, for which he does not claim any compensation.
“When determining the punishment for this criminal offense, the Court took into account all mitigating circumstances – that the accused Ceco had not been convicted before, his age and healthcondition,” noted Murtezic.
The cantonal court sentenced Ceco to one year and six months in prison under the Criminal Code of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ), which was in force at the time the crime was committed.
In the indictment of the Cantonal Prosecutor’s Office in Sarajevo, which was confirmed in 2012, it is stated that on September 18th, 1992, as a then member of the Army of BiH, Ceco physically abused civilians of Serbian nationality who were digging trenches in the area of Dobrinja V.
At the end of 2012, Ceco was sentenced to two years in prison for this crime, but the Supreme Court of the Federation of BiH (FBiH) overturned that verdict and sent the case back to the Cantonal Court in Sarajevo for a renewed trial.
This verdict can be appealed within 15 days, Detektor writes.
E.Dz.
