CAMP COMMANDER SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR WAR CRIMES

SPLIT, June 26 (Hina) - The Split County Court on Monday reached a verdict of guilty in the case of Mirko Graorac, sentencing him to 15 years in prison. According to the non-final verdict, Graorac is guilty of taking part as guard commander in the beating of prisoners at the Manjaca concentration camp, north-western Bosnia-Herzegovina, between 17 June and the end of September 1992, thus committing the war crime against civilians and prisoners of war. The sentence includes the time Graorac spent in detention since 29 April 1995. He was first put on trial in 1996, when the Split County Court sentenced him to 20 years in prison. The proceedings were repeated and a new trial began towards the end of 1998. Many witnesses testified, including eight who recognised Graorac as the one who had tortured them at the Manjaca camp. The residents of Bajinci, the BH village he was born in, on the other hand claimed Graorac had spent all of 1992 with them at the village. Among the prosecution's witnesses, Eda Tarcina said she had seen the defendant in combat uniform three times in Banja Luka, twice in front of the police building, and once in front of the town's mosque during a transfer of prisoners. (hina) ha mm