The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued a first-instance verdict acquitting Spomenko Novović and Borislav Pjana of charges for crimes committed in Foča during 1992.
The Chairperson of the Judicial Council, Mediha Pašić, explained the verdict, saying that the Court could not establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendants had committed the crimes charged against them, and they were acquitted on all counts of the indictment.
Novović and Pjano are accused of murders, inhumane treatment, imprisonment and robbery of Bosniak civilians in the period from April to September 1992 in the towns of Dragočava, Šuba and Potpeće, and they are accused of having, as part of a wide and systematic attack by the military, police and paramilitary units of the Republika Srpska, committed persecution as members of those forces.
Among other things, Novović is accused of beating Ismet Jerković with others on May 7, 1992 in Dragočava, who was then killed by one of the soldiers, and at the end of June he killed a group of civilians and after a few days set fire to the house where their bodies were.
Pjano was accused of participating in the capture and illegal imprisonment of 17 people in Potpeće in August 1992, and according to the indictment, 11 women and children were taken out of the house, while six captured civilians were killed. Pjano reportedly shot through the window of the house where they were imprisoned, while others threw the bomb.
There is a possibility of appealing this verdict to the Appellate Council of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
