News in English     | 19.09.2018. 17:55 |

Vuk Ratković sentenced to eight years for wartime rape in Višegrad

FENA Press release

SARAJEVO, September 19 (FENA) - Former Bosnian Serb soldier Vuk Ratković was sentenced to eight years in prison for the repeated rape of a woman in Višegrad during the war in 1992 and 1993.

The state court in Sarajevo on Wednesday found Vuk Ratković, a former member of the Višegrad Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, guilty of raping a woman three times in the period between June 1992 and January 1993.

“Following the assessment of the evidence, the chamber has determined that the prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has proved, beyond reasonable doubt, that the defendant committed the crime as described in the indictment,” Judge Mediha Pašić said, BIRN reports.

The court ordered Ratković to pay the victim 35,000 Bosnian marks (around 17,900 euros) in compensation. 

Pasic said that the court believed the victim’s “detailed and convincing”, which was also confirmed by other evidence.

“The chamber found no motive on the side of the victim to wrongfully accuse the defendant,” the judge added.

Pasic criticized the defense for its closing arguments, in which it attacked the victim’s credibility.

“Such an approach to witness testimony analysis is unacceptable,” she said.

She added that Ratković’s lawyer, Radmila Radosavljević, “inappropriately insisted on talking about the sexual life of the victim”.

As aggravating circumstances, the court took into account the fact that Ratković raped his victim three times and showed no remorse. It found no mitigating circumstances.

Ratković is also on trial in a separate case before the state court for allegedly committing war crimes in Štrpci in Bosnia in 1993, when Serb fighters stopped a train, seized 20 passengers and killed them.

Wednesday’s verdict can be appealed.

(FENA) S. R.

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