A two-day appeal hearing in the case of the prosecutor against Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović began yesterday before the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts. After a repeated trial, they were sentenced to 12 years in prison each by a first-instance verdict in 2021 for aiding and abetting the commission of a crime in Bosanski Šamac in 1992 and providing practical assistance, which had a significant effect on the commission of the crime, by training and sending members of the special units of the SDB of Serbia.
Higher penalties
Although they were acquitted of other crimes in other parts of the former country, the verdict confirmed Serbia's involvement, mainly through the police and security services, in the hostilities on the territory of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the appeal hearing, Stanisic's defense attorney, Wayne Jordash, pointed out that the Prosecution got confused when it comes to the grounds on which they are charged - joint criminal enterprise and aiding and abetting the JCE.
- The prosecution must show that the Trial Chamber committed neither a legal nor a factual error, when it determined that Stanišić knew that training and sending forces to the field helped specific criminal acts in Bosanski Šamac, said Jordash.
Simatović's defense attorney, Mihajlo Bakrač, pointed out that there is no basis in the evidence that his client had any possibility of independent decision-making. On the other hand, prosecutor Laurel Baig said that it was not shown that the Council made a mistake when it concluded that the duo on the dock aided and abetted the ethnic cleansing in Bosanski Šamac. She added that they should have been sentenced to much higher sentences.
Prof. Ph.D. Rasim Muratović, director of the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law at the University of Sarajevo, expects that what the Prosecutor's Office wrote in the appeal procedure will be respected.
- It is about the fact that the SDB of Serbia dealt intensively with BiH, especially in the 80s and early 90s of the last century. Those who are a little older remember affairs such as: Agrokomerc, Moševac, Skelani, up to the period and the so-called operations Pauk in the period 1992-1995. Those were the preparations for everything that would happen in the period 1992-1995, reminds prof. Ph.D. Muratović adds that it is not only about Bosanski Šamac, but also about Doboj, Bijeljina, Zvornik, Sanski Most and Trnovo - the place where the young men were shot, and the footage of which went around the world.
He points out that this shows the direct involvement of the SDB of Serbia, i.e. its units for special purposes, where Simatović was the main person.
- Regardless of what the verdict will be in the end, it is important that the involvement of the state of Serbia, that is, the SDB, the leading people of those services, has already been shown in the court process. This denies everything that is still not recognized on the territory of Serbia, which is the direct participation of Serbia, that is, its services, in the aggression and crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the period 1992-1995, emphasized prof. Ph.D. Muratović.
He also points out that in the process so far it has already been shown that it is about JCE. He also reminds that the domestic judiciary is still waiting for the A list of cases, and that there is not a single indictment or verdict for crimes from the areas of Goražde, Sarajevo, Maglaj, Tuzla and Bihać.
Scheduled events
Edvin Kanka Ćudić, coordinator of UDIK, points out that the complete process being conducted against Stanišić and Simatović shows that they were actually one of Slobodan Milošević's key figures when it comes to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Croatia.
- In addition to the events in Bosanski Šamac, for which they were convicted, for crimes against humanity, murder, deportation, relocation of the population, the Court noted the events in Doboj - where 16 civilians were used as human shields, the imprisonment of civilians, the killing of Srebrenica residents in Trnovo, and the crimes in Sasini. This shows that what was done by the Serbian Volunteer Guard, the so-called Arkanovci, Red Berets, Scorpions, were not isolated cases of paramilitary formations, but actually planned events, emphasizes Ćudić.
You can watch the video at this link.
Author: Matea Jerković
Source and photo: Oslobođenje.ba