ZAGREB/KARLOVAC, April 21 (Hina) - The Karlovac County Court on Wednesday received a ruling from the Supreme Court upholding its verdict in the trial of Fikret Abdic which sentenced the former leader of the so-called Autonomous
Province of Western Bosnia (AP ZB) to 20 years in prison for war crimes committed between 1993 and 1995.
ZAGREB/KARLOVAC, April 21 (Hina) - The Karlovac County Court on
Wednesday received a ruling from the Supreme Court upholding its
verdict in the trial of Fikret Abdic which sentenced the former leader
of the so-called Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia (AP ZB) to 20
years in prison for war crimes committed between 1993 and 1995.#L#
Karlovac County Court president Davorin Rukavina said that the accused
and his attorney had not been notified of the ruling, but that they
had the right to another appeal before the Supreme Court panel of
judges within 15 days.
Abdic's attorney Davorin Popovic said he had not received the Supreme
Court's ruling yet, but added that he would appeal "due to significant
breaches of procedure and wrongly and incompletely established facts".
He said that the defence failed to present evidence at the trial as it
believed that no war crimes had been committed.
Explaining its ruling, the Supreme Court stated it was established
that a large number of persons, including children and the elderly,
had been subjected to inhumane and humiliating treatment, including
mental and physical abuse. Considering the large number of people who
were subjected to such treatment and the length of time during which
they were subjected to it, the Supreme Court decided to confirm the
sentence of the Karlovac County Court.
The Karlovac County Court, which last June sentenced Abdic to 20
years' imprisonment, said it was found during the trial that Abdic,
acting contrary to the Constitution of Bosnia-Herzegovina, had
declared AP ZB and, in his capacity as supreme commander of the
so-called National Defence of Western Bosnia, ordered, planned and
organised the setting up of prison camps and reception centres in
Velika Kladusa where opponents of AP ZB were imprisoned, subjected to
inhumane treatment and forced to serve in paramilitary forces. The
court accepted documents and witness testimonies according to which at
least three people died as a consequence of the abuse they were
subjected to in the camps, where a total of 5,000 people were
imprisoned.
Abdic has been in prison in Karlovac since June 2002 following an
indictment issued by the State Prosecutor's Office in Bihac,
Bosnia-Herzegovina. He was tried in Croatia in line with an agreement
on legal assistance signed by Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1996.
(Hina) rml