Yesterday, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) sentenced five accused for the crimes committed on July 23rd, 1992 in the Prijedor village of Zecovi to a total of 59 years in prison, while the others were acquitted.
The victims of the crime, after the verdict for five of the 11 defendants, said that they were dissatisfied with the amount of the prison sentence for the number of people killed.
Fikret Bacic believes that this is a regrettable verdict, although the sentence will remain recorded as a historical fact for the local community of Zecovi.
“For one victim, killed in Zecovi, they received 105 days in prison. Respected Judge’s Council, this is sad. Although this is a historical day and a fact for the local community of Zecovi because someone was held accountable, however, 105 days per person killed is a small sentence. I would like to ask the Court, the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, and all those involved in the prosecution of war criminals as well as exhumations and the finding of skillfully hidden bodies and remains: When will this process be completed?” Bacic told reporters.
He emphasized that this and earlier verdicts clearly showed the essence of the crimes for which they were committed.
“We were not allowed to be called differently and have different names,” said Bacic, adding that he expected the Court to “extract” information about the mass graves of 640 people from Prijedor who are still being searched for.
“Although the prosecution proved that the four defendants knew about the bodies, that is, the mass grave, they failed. For me, this is no judgment at all,” he emphasized.
In the end, he confirmed that many convicted of crimes are unavailable and may not even serve their sentences.
“I know that some have taken refuge. I know about Milunic that he already escaped a month ago. You know that there are some people from Prijedor who have been convicted and are being prosecuted and that they have most likely taken refuge in Serbia,” Bacic added.
The first-instance panel of the Court of BiH sentenced Dusan Milunic to 12, Ilija Zoric to 20, Zoran Stojnic to eight, Zoran Milunic to 14, and Ljubisa Cetic to 5 years in prison for crimes against humanity due to persecution by murder, forced relocation and inhuman acts.
With this verdict, Radovan Cetic, Zeljko Grbic, Bosko and Rade Grujicic, Uros Grujcic, and Rajko Gnjatovic were acquitted.
None of the accused attended the sentencing, and the Court ordered the detention of those convicted in the first instance, except for Cetic, who was given restraining orders.
Their trial began almost nine years ago.
According to the indictment, at least 150 civilians of Bosniak nationality were killed in the area of Zecovi – 69 in the village, 20 civilians in other locations, 30 civilians of Bosniak nationality in camps in the area of the municipality of Prijedor, and the rest were killed in other locations and under other circumstances after persecution. The inhabitants of Zecovi were taken to the “Keraterm”, “Omarska” and “Trnopolje” camps.
An appeal is allowed against this court verdict.
E.Dz.
