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Defendants at the sentencing. Photo courtesy of Bosnian Court.

The Bosnian Court’s Appeals Chamber on Wednesday sentenced four former members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina to a total of 29 years in prison for a 1992 attack on Kukavice that saw 21 Serb civilians killed and 39 wounded.

Muhamed Sisic was sentenced to eight years in prison, Tarik Sisic and Aziz Susa to five years each and Emir Drakovac to 11 years.

The Chamber took into consideration a previous 14-year sentence of Drakovac for participation in the murder and mutilation of a civilian and the torture of a Serb soldier in 1992, and issued him a consolidated verdict of 15 years.

The verdict of Drakovac is final, while the other three have a right to appeal.

The Chamber determined that the defendants conducted an attack against a convoy of civilians in the village of Kukavice in Rogatica municipality on August 27, 1992.

“On the basis of the presented evidence, it has been clearly determined that this was an attack against a convoy of civilians, mostly consisting of women, children and the elderly. There was sufficient evidence that the defendants committed the mentioned crime, that the convoy had no military escort and that no person from the convoy returned fire,” the Trial Chamber established.

Explaining the verdict, the Chamber also added that all four defendants participated in the attack although their defense teams tried to deny it, claiming they were somewhere else on the day of the attack.

“The Chamber’s conclusion is based on testimonies given by witnesses ST-1 and ST-2, as well as Ferid Jahic and Nedzad Kokot,” the Chamber said at the sentencing.

Under a first instance verdict pronounced in March 2017, Muhamed and Tarik Sisic, Emir Drakovac and Aziz Susa were acquitted of charges for attacking a convoy in Kukavice in August 1992, when a number of civilians got killed or wounded, with some deaths due to injuries they sustained. However, the Appeals Chamber quashed the verdict and ordered a retrial.

However, the Chamber confirmed a part of the first instance verdict sentencing Drakovac to 14 years for participating in the murder and desecration of the body of civilian Milos Kovacevic in Vratsalici, Rogatica, as well as the torture of a captured VRS member in Zebina Suma in the municipality of Foca.

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