News in English     | 06.09.2018. 17:38 |

BiH Court sentences two Serb ex-soldiers for war crimes in Višegrad

FENA Press release

SARAJEVO, September 6 (FENA) - The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has sentenced Bosnian Serbs Momir Tasić to 14 years in prison and Petar Tasić to ten years for crimes committed in the town of Višegrad in eastern Bosnia in 1992 - while it acquitted Mirko Tasić.

In a first-instance verdict, the Trial Chamber of Bosnia's state court ruled that the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina had proved that Momir and Petar Tasić committed crimes against humanity in Višegrad, eastern Bosnia, in 1992, and acquitted Mirko Tasić of charges.

“The injured parties were civilians and the defendants were members of the Višegradska Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, VRS, which the defense teams did not deny,” trial chamber chairwoman Mediha Pašić said in court on Thursday, BIRN reports.

“Momir and Petar are sentenced, as co-perpetrators, for having committed the persecution of the Bosniak civilian population by participating in the forcible disappearance of civilians,” she continued, adding that Momir was also found guilty of having raped a victim, known as P-1.

The Chamber concluded that the witnesses had identified Momir as one of two persons who took P-1 and P-2 away and raped them, establishing that he committed the crime beyond reasonable doubt.

The verdict obliges him to pay the injured party P-1 25,000 Bosnian marks (around 12,500 euros) as compensation for non-material damage.

Commenting on the acquittal part of the verdict, Pasic said the Chamber was not able to determine that Mirko Tasić was the person known as Mire, and the identification of the defendant by witnesses was considered disputable, so he was acquitted.

The three were charged with having participated in the forcible disappearances of six Bosniak victims in June 1992, whom they had arrested, tortured and abused and then taken in the direction of the western Serbian town of Užice, after which they had gone missing without a trace.

Mirko and Momir Tasić were charged also with the rape of two Bosniaks. According to the indictment, they were members of the Bosnian Serb Army, VRS, while Mirko Tasić was a member of the public Safety Station in Višegrad.

The Chamber said it considered the sentences commensurate with the gravity of the crime. The defendants were exempted from paying the court proceeding costs.

The parties have the right to appeal against the first-instance verdict.

(FENA) S. R.

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