The 47-year-old Rajic last October pleaded guilty to grave violations of the Geneva conventions after a deal with the prosecution envisaging a sentence of 12-15 years in prison. The trial chamber is not bound by the deal with regard to the duration of the sentence.
Prosecutor Kenneth Scott today requested the maximum sentence under the deal, citing as aggravating circumstances the nature of the crime in Stupni Do, abuse of authority by the accused, the vulnerability of the victims, with 14 women and five children being among at least 37 villagers killed in the attack, the fact that the accused was in hiding for eight years, and obstruction of justice.
Citing extenuating circumstances, Scott mentioned Rajic's guilty plea and significant and ongoing cooperation with the prosecution.
The prosecutor then played a 12-minute video recording and showed photographs of the burnt village and carbonated bodies, describing the course of the attack and the killing of the villagers.
He said that the accused and his superiors later did all to cover up the crime, preventing for days UN peace forces from entering the village.
The prosecutor also cited a transcript from the October 10 meeting of the Croatian Defence and National Security Council at which the former Croatian president, the late Franjo Tudjman, demanded that Rajic be replaced and an investigation opened.
Scott said that between the issuing of the indictment in 1995 and his arrest in 2003 Rajic had been hiding mostly in Croatia with active support from Croatian state services, and that he had possessed false documents, living under a false identity.
Defence attorney Doris Kosta said that Rajic had issued the order to attack Stupni Do, but that he did not want the consequences with which he was charged, explaining that what had happened was excessive use of force.
Speaking about the unsuccessful attempt of UN forces to enter the village, Rajic's change of identity and his years-long hiding in Croatia, Kosta said that her client had done this on instructions from his superiors in the HVO and the Croatian authorities.
She concluded by saying that a 12-year prison sentence would be fair punishment.
Addressing the tribunal, Rajic said that he had not ordered the crime and that he had not had any control over it. As for the covering up of the crime and his hiding, Rajic said that he had followed instructions from his superiors.
Expressing regret at the crime, Rajic said that HVO General Tihomir Blaskic and structures around him were responsible for the conflict with Muslims in central Bosnia and that there had been no parallel chain of command.
"The prosecution is taking concrete steps to dismantle false allegations fed to the tribunal and I hope to be able to take part in that," Rajic said alluding to the possibility of testifying for the prosecution in a possible retrial of Blaskic that was requested by the prosecution.