Delivering the verdict, the trial chamber's president, Vinka Beraha-Nikicievic, said that Spanovic, 49, brutally treated Croatian civilians detained in the prison, inflicted bodily injuries on them and made them suffer.
According to the indictment, from early October 1991 until late January 1992, Spanovic brutally treated Croatian civilians in Stara Gradiska prison, torturing them and causing them great suffering, both physical and mental, which constitutes a war crime against the civilian population.
All the injured parties, residents of the village of Borovac in the municipality of Novska, were expelled from their homes and taken to the prison where they were held until the end of January 1992, when they were exchanged or released. Throughout that time the prisoners were under the authority of the Serb Territorial Defence.
Before the trial, Spanovic, a native of Novska, lived in Celarevo in Serbia's northern province of Vojvodina.
The Serbian War Crimes Prosecutor's Office took over the case from a Croatian court based on its agreement with the Croatian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on cooperation in war crimes prosecution.
His trial started on 17 September 2009.