Trial of Trbojević Just but Punishment Lenient

On May 27th 2009, the War Crimes Chamber of the Belgrade District Court presided by Judge Snežana Nikolić-Garotić rendered a guilty judgement against Boro Trbojević and sentenced him to ten years imprisonment for a war crime against civilian population. The Republic of Croatia Office of the Prosecutor referred this case to the Republic of Serbia Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor. Namely, the Cantonal Court in Bjelovar convicted Boro Trbojević in absentia along with now late Bogdan Trbojević for the same criminal act and sentenced them to 20 years of imprisonment each.

Trials for war crimes and ethnically and politically motivated crimes in post-Yugoslav countries

In 2008, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) monitored all trials held in Serbia for war crimes, murders and other criminal offences committed in the context of armed conflicts, all trials conducted in Kosovo for war crimes and ethnically or politically motivated criminal offences and selected war crimes trials in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as part of regional cooperation on monitoring war crimes trials before national courts.

The Decision of the War Crimes Trial Chamber unjust for victims and the accused

The Decision reached by the War Crimes Trial Chamber of the Belgrade District Court sentencing former commander of the Suva Reka police station Radojko Repanović and policeman Slađan Čukarić to 20 years in prison, reserve policeman Miroslav Petković to 15 years in prison and former State Security inspector Milorad Nišavić to 13 years in prison while acquitting Radoslav Mitrović, the former commander of the 37th PJP battalion, assistant commander of the Suva Reka police station, and reserve police officer Zoran Petković of the criminal responsibility for the murder of 49 members of the Berisha family and Abdullah Elshani is unjust for both the victims and the accused.

Closing arguments in the Suva Reka war crimes trial

The trial for the war crime committed in Suva Reka in March 1999 when 50 Albanians civilians were killed came to its end on April 6, following closing arguments given by the Deputy War Crimes Prosecutor Mioljub Vitorović and victims’ legal representative Nataša Kandić. On trial for this crime are former commandant of the 37^th Special Police Unit battalion Radoslav Mitrović, commander of the Suva Reka police station Radojko Repanović, and five police officers.

The presentation of closing arguments was attended by five members of the Berisha family as well as media representatives from Kosovo (Radio Koha Ditore, TV Klan, Koha Ditore, and Suva Reka radio station).

The judgment by the War Crimes Trial Chamber of the Belgrade District Court will be handed down at 13:00 on April 23, 1999.

Niš District Court Delays Trial for the Third Time

The Niš District Court delayed the trial of Miloš Simonović, an active police officer, and Dragiša Marković, a former reservist of the Serbian Ministry of Interior from Belgrade for the third time because the defendant Simonović, who is on provisional release, did not respond to the subpoena.

HLC Press Statement In Relation to the (First Instance) Verdict of Defendant Aleksandar Medić

The War Crimes Chamber rendered a judgment on 28 January 2009 in the retrial of Aleksandar Medić for abetting the commission of criminal act of war crime against civilian population pursuant to Article 142 Section 1 in relation to Article 24 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. This criminal act was committed in July 1995 in Godinjske bare, a place located in the vicinity of Trnovo on the Treskavica Mountain.

Trial of Police Officers for Crimes Committed in Kosovo Unjustifiably Long

The Humanitarian Law Center believes that the Niš District Court, which is conducting the trial of Miloš Simonović, an active police officer, and Dragiša Marković, a former reserve officer in the Serbian Ministry of Interior, for the criminal offence of murder of an Albanian [during the armed conflict in Kosovo – added by HLC] is being unnecessarily stalled, thus preventing justice from being served.

Serbian Supreme Court Obstructs War Crimes Trials

The Serbian Supreme Court verdict in The Scorpions case showed once more that the Serbian Supreme Court, deciding in the second instance in war crimes trials, was guided by political and not legal considerations. Namely, in the first instance verdict rendered by the Belgrade District Court War Crimes Chamber on 10 April 2007, defendants Slobodan Medić, Pero Petrašević, and Branislav Medić were found guilty of a war crime against the civilian population, Aleksandar Medić was found guilty of abetting the same crime, while Aleksandar Vukov was acquitted of all charges. Slobodan Medić and Branislav Medić were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment, Pero Petrašević to 13, and Aleksandar Medić to five years of imprisonment.

Trial of Pašić fair, but the punishment is lenient and disproportionate to the crime

On July 8th, 2008, the War Crimes Trial Chamber of the Belgrade District Court presided by Justice Snežana Nikolić-Garotić handed down a decision sentencing Zdravko Pašić to 8 (eight) years in prison for war crimes committed against the civilian population. This case was transferred from the State Attorney’s Office of the Republic of Croatia to the Office of the War Crimes Trial Chamber of the Republic of Serbia.

Zvornik Verdict in accordance with Evidence

The Belgrade War Crimes Chamber reached and announced the verdict on 12 June 2008, finding defendants Dragan Slavković, Ivan Korać, and Siniša Filipović guilty of committing a war crime against the civilian population in the Municipality of Zvornik, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the period from April to July 1992 pursuant to Article 142 of the Criminal Code of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ). Slavković was sentenced to 15 years in prison; Korać to 13, and Filipović to 3 years in prison. Defendant Dragutin Dragićević was acquitted of all charges.