The Hague Tribunal convicted the leaders of the so-called “Herceg-Bosna” to a total of 111 years of imprisonment. This confirmed the first instance verdict for leaders of Herceg-Bosna. The pronouncement of the verdict was marked with the suicide of Slobodan Praljak, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison, after which he poisoned himself. He was transported to the nearest hospital immediately and died soon after that.
The appeal of Jadranko Prlic was completely rejected and the first-instance verdict of 25 years in prison was confirmed. The Appeals Chamber dismissed the count that Prlic was responsible for the demolition of houses and buildings in Vares, but the other counts of the indictment were confirmed. The time he already spent in prison will be taken into consideration.
The verdict to 20 years in prison for Bruno Stojic was confirmed as well and his time spent in prison will be taken into consideration. The Appeals Chamber accepted some of the allegations of defense, especially regarding the destruction of houses and buildings in Vares and some of the crimes in Mostar and Prozor. Moreover, his participation in a joint criminal enterprise was confirmed.
The verdict to 20 years in prison was also confirmed for Milivoj Petkovic.
The Appeals Chamber confirmed the verdict of 16 years of imprisonment to Valentin Coric.
The Appeals Chamber confirmed the verdict of 10 years in imprisonment to Berislav Pusic.
At the beginning of the reading of the summary of the verdict, Judge Agius stated that this was a long and complex case that was taking place from 2006. He also noted that this was the last verdict that the Hague Tribunal will pronounce before its closing.
Agius recalled the first instance verdict and noted that it was established that the leaders of the so-called “Herceg-Bosna” created an entire system of deportation of the Muslim population from the territory of Herceg-Bosna, which also included murder, maltreatment, detention, torture etc.
He noted that the crimes were committed in the period between 1992 and 1994 in eight municipalities and concentration camps, in the part of BiH that was declared as a part of the Croatian community and later the Republic of Herceg-Bosna, according to Judge Agius.
(Source: E. S. H./Klix.ba)
