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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
War crimes trials in Serbia are being held before the War Crimes Trials Chamber of the Belgrade District Court founded in July 2003. In addition, two members of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Serbia (MUP Serbia) are being tried before the District Court in Požarevac for war crimes committed in Kosovo (Orahovac Case). The Niš District Court brought a first instance decision in the trial of two members of MUP Serbia for a murder committed during the armed conflict in Kosovo (the Emini Case), while in the Pakšec Case the Novi Sad District Court brought a first instance decision for the criminal offences of murder and rape.
The Belgrade District Court War Crimes Chamber verdict rendered on 10 April 2007 against indicted members of the Scorpions Unit for the execution of
six Bosniak civilians in Trnovo, BiH, committed in July 1995 is not based on the law and facts determined during the trial.