A court in Banja Luka has sentenced Dragan Radakovic, Drasko Krndija and Radoslav Knezevic, three former members of the Bosnian Serb police, to prison time ranging from 15 to 20 years for war crimes, i.e. murders of six Bosnian Muslim civilians during the war. This is the first verdict for war crimes at a court in Republika Srpska since the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina ended ten years ago.
The first verdict for war crimes has been announced in Banja Luka. In the court proceedings that lasted 12 years, Drago Radakovic, Drasko Krndija and Radoslav Knezevic were sentenced to years in prison for the murder of six civilians in Prijedor in March 1994.
On 17 November 2005, the panel of judges of the Banja Luka District Court sentenced Drago Radakovic and Drasko Krndija to 20 years of prison, and Radoslav Knezevic to 15 years of prison, for war crimes against civilians. This is the first war crimes verdict given in this court after the war. The presiding judge Dusko Bojovic said in the verdict that the accuseds were guilty of murder of six civilians in Prijedor in March 1994.
The three men had already been accused of murder in 1994, but were released after trial. This is particularly interesting since the three men confessed in the investigation procedure to having committed the crimes, but were nevertheless acquitted on 4 December 1994.
The Banja Luka higher court had abolished the first-instance verdict on 26 March 1996 and had reopened the procedure after the prosecution appeal, and the accuseds were proclaimed guilty of war crimes and participation in ethnic cleansing against Bosnian Muslims and Croats.
It is stated in the verdict that Krndija, Radakovic and Knezevic, as reserve police officers, had violated the international law and the Geneva Convention on Protection of Civilians in Time of War, by committing murders of Atif and Zlata Canic, Sefik Hergic, Faruk and Refika Rizvic and Fadila Muhmuljin in the period of 29 to 31 March 1994 after an agreement among the three of them.
This verdict has demonstrated that the local courts are willing and able to adjudicate in such cases and that they conduct the proceedings in accord with law and the procedure as foreseen by The Hague tribunal.
Drago Radakovic and Radoslav Knezevic will remain in detention until the verdict becomes legally valid, while Dusko Krndija is at large. Krndija failed to appear before the court for the pronouncement of verdict. The verdict is not yet legally valid, as the convicted men have the right to appeal to the RS Supreme Court within the period of 15 days.
