The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Thursday sentenced seven defendants related to the genocide in Srebrenica to jail terms ranging from five years to live imprisonment.

By Linawati Sidarto

Two defendants, Vujadin Popović and Ljubiša Beara, were convicted for genocide and received life sentences.

Reading the verdict on Popović , presiding Judge Carmel Agius rendered him guilty of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“In the face of the grave nature of the crimes perpetrated and your central responsibility for them, the Trial Chamber considers that the only appropriate sentence for you is life imprisonment,” Agius said.
 Meanwhile the Court said that Beara “became a driving force behind the murder enterprise.”

If the appeal’s chamber upholds the judgments, it would be the first time that the ICTY convicts perpetrators for the crime of genocide.

The five other men received sentences of between five and 35 years.

Throughout the session in the courtroom in the Hague, which lasted for less than two hours, the defendants remained quiet and without emotion, including during the reading of the verdict.

The seven defendants were accused of crimes ranging from genocide to forcible transfer and deportation, related to the genocide in Srebrenica in 1995 which left more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslim dead. Six defendants were members of the Bosnian Serb army, while one was part of the country’s special police forces.

Five defendants -- Vujadin Popović, Ljubiša Beara, Drago Nikolić, Ljubomir Borovčanin and Vinko Pandurević -- are charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide and extermination. Meanwhile Radivoje Miletić and Milan Gvero are charged with crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war, including murder, persecutions, forcible transfer and deportation.

Prosecutors have asked for life sentences for all the defendants. The seven men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

John Ostojić, the lawyer for Beara, said his client was “very disappointed” and plans to appeal the Court’s decision.

“We think the court relied on what we heard, although we haven’t read the judgement, on unsubstantiated, uncorroborated and unreliable evidence,” Ostojić said. “So we hope that the appeals chamber will look at the case more fairly and hopefully will correct the trial chamber’s erroneous judgement.”

The supervisor of the seven defendants, general Radislav Krstic, was sentenced on appeal to 35 years in prison for complicity in genocide in 2004.

This has been the largest trial conducted by the ICTY to date. The case started in July 2006 and heard over 300 witnesses. Since its establishment in 1993, the ICTY has indicted 161 people for violations of humanitarian law committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 2001.

The ICTY has indicted a total of 21 people for crimes committed in connection with Srebrenica. The most notable ongoing case is that against Former Republika Srpska President Radovan Karadžić.

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