Serbia jails Bosnian convicted in killing Yugoslav troops
AFP
BELGRADE - Serbia's war crimes court Monday sentenced a Bosnian to 12 years in prison for involvement in a 1992 attack that killed 51 soldiers of the Yugoslav army, the Beta news agency reported.
Former security official Ilija Jurisic, 66, was found guilty of having ordered an armed attack by Bosnia's forces on a Yugoslav army convoy retreating from the northeastern town of Tuzla on May 15, 1992, at the beginning of Bosnia's 1992-1995 war.
Jurisic, at the time a top official of the Bosnian interior ministry and a crisis committee in Tuzla, was convicted of having "used prohibited combat methods" in the attack that also left 50 Yugoslav soldiers wounded.
The prosecution said the verdict had brought "satisfaction for the victims and their families" while the defense announced it would appeal the verdict.
The Serbian war crimes court's decision also provoked outrage in Bosnia, where it was described as politically motivated.
"Everything points to the conclusion that the trial to Ilija Jurisic was biased, that is, subject to political manipulation," Bosnian Minister for Human Rights and Refugees Safet Halilovic said in a press release.
"We have reason to fear that Jurisic's human rights had been violated at all stages of the (judicial) procedure," he added.
Jurisic was arrested in May 2007 at Belgrade airport and has been held in custody ever since.
Numerous Bosnian officials and non-governmental organizations insisted that Jurisic's arrest and subsequent trial had been unfair, in part because a Belgrade court refused to accept written testimonies by defense witnesses from Bosnia.
Bosnian witnesses, claiming that Yugoslav army soldiers retreating from Tuzla were the first to open fire, has refused to appear before a Belgrade court in person over fears they too might be arrested.
A Tuzla-based citizen's association, Front, announced it will organize on Tuesday in the town a massive protest against the verdict.
Some 100,000 people were killed and more than two million people displaced during the war sparked when Bosnia broke away from the Yugoslav federation.
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The prosecution said the verdict had brought "satisfaction for the victims and their families" while the defense announced it would appeal the verdict.
The Serbian war crimes court's decision also provoked outrage in Bosnia, where it was described as politically motivated.
"Everything points to the conclusion that the trial to Ilija Jurisic was biased, that is, subject to political manipulation," Bosnian Minister for Human Rights and Refugees Safet Halilovic said in a press release.
"We have reason to fear that Jurisic's human rights had been violated at all stages of the (judicial) procedure," he added.
Jurisic was arrested in May 2007 at Belgrade airport and has been held in custody ever since.
Numerous Bosnian officials and non-governmental organizations insisted that Jurisic's arrest and subsequent trial had been unfair, in part because a Belgrade court refused to accept written testimonies by defense witnesses from Bosnia.
Bosnian witnesses, claiming that Yugoslav army soldiers retreating from Tuzla were the first to open fire, has refused to appear before a Belgrade court in person over fears they too might be arrested.
A Tuzla-based citizen's association, Front, announced it will organize on Tuesday in the town a massive protest against the verdict.
Some 100,000 people were killed and more than two million people displaced during the war sparked when Bosnia broke away from the Yugoslav federation.
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