ZAGREB, Oct 4 (Hina) - Ivan Kern and Branko Seric, defence attorneys in the trial of Dinko Sakic, have expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict reached by the Zagreb County Court on Monday and announced that they will file an appeal
with the Supreme Court. The deadline for submitting appeals is fifteen days from the pronunciation of the verdict. The Zagreb County Court on Monday found Sakic, a commander of the Jasenovac concentration camp, guilty of war crime against the civilian population and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. The defence objects that the oral explanation presented by the president of the panel of judges, Drazen Tripalo, was "vague and too general". Attorney Seric believes pressure was exerted on the panel of judges, since, he claims, "it (the panel) has completely accepted claims from the indictment without determining the time, place or the method of the crimes committed
ZAGREB, Oct 4 (Hina) - Ivan Kern and Branko Seric, defence attorneys
in the trial of Dinko Sakic, have expressed dissatisfaction with
the verdict reached by the Zagreb County Court on Monday and
announced that they will file an appeal with the Supreme Court.
The deadline for submitting appeals is fifteen days from the
pronunciation of the verdict.
The Zagreb County Court on Monday found Sakic, a commander of the
Jasenovac concentration camp, guilty of war crime against the
civilian population and sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
The defence objects that the oral explanation presented by the
president of the panel of judges, Drazen Tripalo, was "vague and too
general".
Attorney Seric believes pressure was exerted on the panel of
judges, since, he claims, "it (the panel) has completely accepted
claims from the indictment without determining the time, place or
the method of the crimes committed, or the number of victims". The
appeal will accentuate these elements, Seric added.
Kern believes the panel of judges has made "fundamental mistakes in
the procedure" because in pronouncing the verdict it established
that the passage of time could not be an extenuating circumstance.
He added one could not consider as an aggravating circumstance the
fact that Sakic was not regretful or showing criticism toward the
acts from the indictment, which the panel of judges mentioned
explaining the verdict.
"Sakic is not remorseful because he considers himself innocent in
this trial", Kern said. He added it would not be easy for the verdict
to go into effect especially as it was supported by "witness
statements which contradict each other".
Kern said his client had expected such a verdict, which he believed
was the result of the public pressure.
A representative for the prosecution, County State Attorney
Radovan Santek, expressed satisfaction that the panel of judges had
accepted in the verdict most of the charges from the indictment.
Estimating that the prosecution had prepared a good concept of the
indictment, Santek expressed satisfaction with "the job well
done".
Cedo Prodanovic, attorney for the Boskovic family, said he had
expected the verdict of 20 years in prison from the very beginning
of the trial. The verdict was the most that could be achieved, he
said.
"The procedure is partially successful because it gave a general
picture of a dark period and a criminal regime which should never
happen again", Prodanovic said.
(hina) jn rml