Banic, a former nurse from Zemunik Gornji, was sentenced in absence in 1998 to 20 years in jail. After she was arrested on an international warrant in Switzerland and extradited to Croatia, the trial was repeated, resulting in a 13-year prison term.
The Supreme Court upheld her appeal and returned the case to the Zadar County Court for reconsideration. In July 2004, the Zadar court sentenced Banic to ten years in prison for her role in the killing of 43 civilians in Skabrnja on November 18, 1991.
Zadar County Court President Antun Klismanic told Hina on Monday that the court had received the final decision of the Supreme Court, but declined to comment, saying that he had not yet studied it.
Defence attorney Luka Susak also said he had not studied the decision, but added that he was not satisfied with it despite the reduction of the prison sentence.
"The defence believe that our client did not commit any crime and will therefore file a request for the case to be referred to the Hague tribunal," Susak told Hina, saying that the Croatian judiciary was unable to ensure his client a fair trial.
Susak claimed that Croatian courts did not apply equal criteria in sentencing ethnic Serbs and ethnic Croats for war crimes.