The President of the Court Council, judge Ljubomir Kitic, stated in the verdict that the Court had concluded based on the presented evidence that the first three accused had murdered four civilians, Dorde Petrovic, Nikola Modrakovic, Momcilo Ristanovic, and Vlajo Zekic, all of them from the town of Milici. According to the verdict, this happened near the village of Krusev Do (the Srebrenica municipality) on May 2 1996. The Court, according to Kitic, established that Avdic and Hasic also murdered the eighth member of the group, Munib Mustafic, and the two of them were sentenced to 9 years in prison because of that case, but will serve their sentences concurrently.
Judge Kitic mentioned that the verdict is based, among other, on transcripts from the investigation and verbal confessions of the accused. All these transcripts and confessions disappeared during the first interrogations of the accused in Zvornik. The initial verdict of the Court in Zvornik was also based on the same transcripts and confessions. As is known, the initial verdict was struck down and the case returned for a new trial.
In the new trial no new material evidence was produced. Also, until today neither the bodies of the victims nor the murder weapons have been found. At the spot where the murder allegedly took place, pieces of two human bodies were found in May 1996, but the victims were never identified. Besides, Dr. Zoran Stankovic, pathologist from Belgrade, suggested that the "Medecins Sans Frontiers" team from Tuzla perform DNA analysis of the corpses. All these victims were classified as missing until two months ago.
After the reading of the verdicts, the three convicts, who are held in custody in Bijeljina prison, announced that they will start a protest hunger strike on Saturday. The defense attorneys from Tuzla were also disappointed with the verdict and are convinced that the Court worked under political pressure. They emphasize that the Court succumbed to the strong influence of daily politics in the Republic of Srpska. According to their information, the verdict would have been not guilty only two months ago.
Among other, the defense blames Cantonal Courts in Tuzla and Sarajevo for causing additional problems in the trial by failing to timely provide the data in connection with the case.
"A horrible verdict," says the defense attorney of the first accused, Bakir Pasic. "This verdict is horrible, because the Court had no material evidence that these murders have been committed, let alone that our clients were responsible for them. I am convinced that the verdict was influenced by political reasons. The Court was under incredible pressure. Because of that I also blame the representatives of the International Community, who did not want or dare to prevent the meddling of the Srpska authorities in this trial, although we warned about that several times. Our defense continues and I am convinced that in the end justice will triumph over politics."
"As far as the trial procedure is concerned, this was a correct trial, but with a shameful conclusion. The Court failed to establish whether the missing persons were dead at all, as well as who, when and how, murdered them. It is obvious that the current political situation in the Republic of Srpska affected the verdict. This was not a trial to potential murderers but Bosniaks in Srebrenica," said lawyer Mensur Radoncic. "During the whole trial, I was very pessimistic regarding the final outcome. I have been telling that to my colleagues, since I felt that politics will creep into the trial and unfortunately produce an unjust verdict," said lawyer Mirsa Muharemagic.
Translated on 1/30/99