Overly Lenient Sentence for Wartime Sexual Violence

On 12 December 2024, the War Crimes Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade delivered a judgment finding Lazar Mutlak, a member of the “Podkamen” Company of the Territorial Defence Srpsko Goražde, guilty of committing a war crime against the civilian population – raping a Bosniak woman under the threat of a gun on 25 May 1992, in the village of Lozje (municipality of Goražde, Bosnia and Herzegovina). Mutlak was sentenced to seven years of imprisonment.

The Humanitarian Law Center considers that the sentence is overly lenient and that the court gave excessive weight to mitigating circumstances, especially given the nature of the sexual violence, which, as established, left lasting consequences for the victim. Although the court conducted the proceedings efficiently, with the main hearing starting on 13 April 2023, the verdict does not provide adequate satisfaction for the victim, who had waited for justice for over three decades.

During the judgment delivery, the presiding judge Vladimir Duruz, stated that it was indisputably established during the trial that the accused committed the crime he was charged with, based on the victim’s testimony, other witnesses, and documentary evidence.

When determining the sentence, the court took into account the time elapsed since the commission of the crime, the accused’s age, and the fact that he had no prior convictions. However, the passage of time in war crimes cases should not be treated as a mitigating circumstance due to the nature and gravity of such crimes, as well as the fact that the law stipulates that these crimes do not have a statute of limitations, clearly indicating that the passage of time should not influence the sentence. Similarly, the fact that the accused had no prior convictions should not affect the sentence, as abiding by the law is a duty of every citizen and should not be given additional weight. This is particularly true given the circumstances of the crime, including the fact that the accused knew the victim, as they were neighbors, and exploited her helplessness. Furthermore, an expert evaluation determined that the rape resulted in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for the victim, leading to a 25% permanent reduction in her general life capacities – circumstances that should be treated as aggravating factors impacting the sentence.

In its 20 years of existence, the Public Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes has filed only 13 indictments for sexual violence committed during armed conflicts. Of these, only five cases exclusively addressed the crime of rape. The first-instance verdict against Lazar Mutlak is only the third conviction in cases exclusively addressing wartime sexual violence before courts in Serbia.