ZADAR, Oct 2 (Hina) - The Panel of Judges of the Zadar County Court on Wednesday found Zorana Banic (51), a Serb from Zemunik Gornji, guilty of participating in war crimes against civilians on November 18, 1991 in Skabrnja, sentencing
her to 13 years in prison.
ZADAR, Oct 2 (Hina) - The Panel of Judges of the Zadar County Court
on Wednesday found Zorana Banic (51), a Serb from Zemunik Gornji,
guilty of participating in war crimes against civilians on November
18, 1991 in Skabrnja, sentencing her to 13 years in prison. #L#
During the re-trial it was proven beyond doubt that Zorana Banic was
a member of the so-called army of the SAO Krajina and on November 18,
1991 she was in Skabrnja and forcefully dragged out families from
the cellars of houses - mostly elderly people and children - and
that she participated in the war crime in which 34 civilians were
killed with fire arms from an immediate vicinity, presiding Judge
Enka Mokovic said. Even though it was not ascertained that she
personally killed civilians it is beyond a doubt that she
participated in dragging them out of their homes, taking them to a
collection centre, Judge Mokovic said.
The Panel of Judges partially changed the verdict dated 1995, under
which Banic was sentenced in absentia to 20 years imprisonment.
That verdict was based, Judge Mokovic continued, on a statement
given by Zeljko Segaric, a surviving witness of the Skabrnja
massacre who claimed that he saw the defendant killing his uncle,
Krsto Segaric. Later the witness changed his testimony.
The current sentence of 13 years is based on statements by several
witnesses who claimed they saw Zorana Banic in Skabrnja. The court
accepted their testimonies as credible.
The court overruled the claim of the defendant that she was not in
Skabrnja on that day. The court also did not take into account a
testimony by witness Marija Mizdalo which arrived via diplomatic
channels from Yugoslavia and which attempted to give Banic an alibi
for that day.
The panel ascertained that Zorana Banic was a nurse, however, on
that day in Skabrnja, she did not behave as a nurse but was in the
service of the enemy army and with her behaviour, she violated
provisions of the Geneva Convention and international laws of war.
In the re-trial against Banic, the court heard 54 witnesses as well
as testimonies by pathologists and psychiatrists.
The defendant will remain in prison and until a final verdict is
passed, as Judge Mokovic said, the defendant could be sent to start
serving the sentence.
Banic's defence attorney said after the verdict was pronounced that
his client wanted her file to be sent to the Hague-based war crimes
tribunal.
Banic was arrested in October last year in Switzerland and
extradited to the Croatian authorities. The sentence pronounced
today includes the time Banic has already spent in custody.
(hina) sp it sb