The District Court in Doboj sentenced Mirsad Brkić, a former member of the 102nd Brigade of the Croatian Defense Council (HVO), to eight years in prison for crimes against civilians in Jezero near Odžak in the summer of 1992.
Brkić was found guilty by the first-instance verdict for the murder of Simo and Pero Ljubičić and for illegally imprisoning a group of residents of Jezero in Ilija Milošević’s garage.
By the same verdict, he was acquitted of the inhumane treatment of Ilija Milosevic, who has since died.
“Brkić, as a co-perpetrator, together with Senahid Ribić and other unknown persons, illegally imprisoned, intimidated, tortured and killed two civilians,” said judge Snježana Banjac Lopandić.
The indictment states that Brkić, as a former member of the HVO, committed criminal acts in the Jezero settlement, which today belongs to the municipality of Vukosavlje, together with Senahid Ribić, also known as Bešlaga, and other unknown persons.
In the explanation of the verdict, it is stated that the testimony of the Prosecution witness that Brkić was a member of “Bešlaga’s group”, which they identified as responsible for the crimes committed in Jezero near Odžak in June and July 1992, was accepted.
At the end of January 2013, the district court sentenced Senahid Ribić to 13 years in prison for crimes in the area of Odžak.
At the beginning of November last year, Brkić was extradited from Austria to Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to an international warrant issued by order of the Doboj District Court.
Judge Banjac Lopandić said that Brkić’s detention was extended until the final verdict, and the time spent in detention in Doboj since November 4 last year will be included in his prison sentence. The court did not count Brkić’s extradition detention in Austria, where he was from February 24 until the beginning of November last year, in the duration of the sentence.
According to the verdict, Brkić is also obliged to pay the court costs and witness attendance costs in the total amount of 355 marks.
The trial in this case began on March 27 of this year.
Today’s verdict can be appealed to the Supreme Court of the Republika Srpska.
