The War Crimes Chamber of the Belgrade District Court pronounced sentences for the four accused members of the “Scorpions” unit, who had shot six Bosniak detainees from Srebrenica in July 1995 at Godinjske bare near Trnovo, and acquitted one indictee. (12-APR-07)
This article draws upon a number of other articles, already published in both Bosnian and international news media. The editing and rewriting into one, new article for publication here has been done by HRH / Mirsad Pandzic.
Slobodan Medic, Pera Petrasevic, Aleksandar Medic i Branislav Medic are guilty, as members of the “Scorpions”, together with a number of unknown members, of killing Azmira Alispahic, Safet Fejzic, Juso Delic, Smail Ibrahimovic, Sidik Salkic and Dino Salihovic– Judge Bozilovic-Petkovic said.
Inappropriate remarks
The reading of the verdict for the accused members of the “Scorpions” unit lasted for about an hour. During that time, Judge Gordana Bozilovic-Petkovic could not refrain from qualifications of the character of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and stressed for the second time in reading of one part of the verdict that “the Court finds that there was truly a civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina”
The Court proclaims guilty Slobodan Medic and sentences him to 20 years of prisons, Pero Petrasevic to 13 years of prison, Aleksandar Medic to five years of prison, and Branislav Medis 20 years of prison. The Court has not found evidence for the responsibility of Aleksandar Vukovic and he is therefore acquitted of charges – Judge read the verdict and then continued to read the explanation of the verdict.
Tears and resentment
The reading of the verdict was observed from the gallery of the Courtroom No. 1 by around 20 women from Srebrenica, including Nura Alispahic, mother of the shot Azmir Alispahic, Hana Fejzic and Safeta Muhic, the mother and sister of the shot Safet Fejzic, Senad Ibrahimovic, the son of the killed Smail Ibrahimovic, and brother of the killed Juso Delic, together with a group of members of the Association “Women in Black” and activists of the Humanitarian Law Fund.
The first words of the verdict were accompanied by a deep sigh of distressed mothers, while the information that Aleksandar Medic was sentenced only to five years of prison and that Aleksandar Vukov was acquitted caused tears and visible resentment which has at once removed them from their chairs.
After the pronouncement of the verdict, Vladimir Vukcevic, War Crime Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia, announced that an appeal to the Serbian Supreme Court would follow.
Reactions
“The whole world saw what the “Scorpions” had done and they should have been sentenced to life in imprisonment at least, but even if they had gotten the death sentence that would have been too little for what they had done to innocent children”, chairwoman of the Association “Movement of Mothers of Enclaves of Srebrenica and Zepa”, Munira Subasic told the media, commenting ruling of the War Crimes Chamber in Belgrade for the five members of the “Scorpions” formation for the war crime of shooting six Bosniaks from Srebrenica in July 1995.
”I think that the mothers who watched their children being killed today once again relived the genocide and killing of their souls”, Subasic said.
She said that mothers were feeling sad and bad today.
”We have been searching for justice for 12 years and here is how we get by this verdict for the “Scorpions”. I think that justice will never be served, not even to prevent victims being humiliated in the worst possible way, like we have been humiliated”, Subasic said.
Read also: Trial of five members of Scorpions unit commences
