The Court of Appeal in Belgrade overturned the verdict by which Danko Vladicic was sentenced to nine years in prison for crimes against the civilian population in the Foca area and sent the case back to the first-instance court for a retrial, which is scheduled for mid-September.
In November 2022, the High Court in Belgrade found Vladicicguilty of murdering the spouses Ramo and Tima Vranjaca on August 18th, 1992 in their apartment in Brod na Drini near Foca, and sentenced him to nine years in prison.
The Defense and the Serbian War Crimes Prosecution filed appeals against the first-instance verdict, but the Appellate Court accepted the appeal of the defendant’s defense counsel and annulled the verdict and sent the case back for a new trial.
“According to the order of the Court of Appeal, the complaint of the defendant’s defense attorney indicates that, even after the procedure, the factual situation was not fully established, which led to a significant violation of the provisions of the criminal procedure, which is reflected in the lack of reasons for the facts that are the subject of proof,” it is stated in the statement of the Court of Appeal.
In the first-instance verdict, it was stated that Vladicic, armed with a rifle and smeared with black paint on his face, came to the shack where the spouses of Vranjaca lived and fired two shots at them, killing them.
Judge Mirjana Ilic said during the delivery of this verdict that Ramo and Tima Vranjaca were the only Bosniak civilians who remained in Brod na Drini because all their fellow citizens had left this place out of fear, and that the Court had in mind the testimony of witnesses that the motive of the crime was the death of the relative of the accused in the war. The bodies of the Vranjaca spouses have not been found to date.
The High Court in Belgrade found during the trial that Vladicicwas not a member of any armed group.
The District Public Prosecutor’s Office in Trebinje filed an indictment against Vladicic in February 2019, and the Serbian Prosecutor’s Office took over the case and charged him in February 2021.
The High Court in Belgrade confirmed that the start of the renewed trial of Vladicic is scheduled for September 13th.
