NETHERLANDS: Bosnian Serb sentenced to 15 years for war crimes

Former Bosnian Serb policeman Dragan Zelenovic was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by the U.N. war crimes tribunal on Wednesday (April 4), after he pleaded guilty to the rape and torture of Bosnian Muslims during the 1992-1995 war. Zelenovic, a 45-year-old former paramilitary leader, was indicted in 1996 for atrocities committed against non-Serbs in his native Foca region, southeast of Sarajevo, including the gang rape of a 15-year-old girl. His defence had recommended a sentence in the range of 7 to 10 years, while prosecutors recommended a sentence in the range of 10 to 15 years. "This trial chamber, having considered the facts of the case and the arguments of the parties, the statue and the rules, and based upon the factual and legal findings as determined in the sentencing judgement - hereby sentences you, Mr Zelenovic, to a single sentence of 15 years of imprisonment. You are entitled to credit for the period of time you have been in custody for the purpose of this case. You were arrested by the Russian authorities on the 22nd of August, 2005, and are therefore entitled to credit of 591 days," Judge Alphons Orie read in court. He said the crimes to which Zelenovic had pleaded guilty were part of a pattern of sexual assault which took place over a period of several months, in different places and involving several victims, and that he was found by the court to have taken a direct part in the sexual abuse of victims. Last year Zelenovic pleaded not guilty to 14 counts of rape and torture, but under the terms of a plea bargain between his defence team and prosecutors he admitted to seven charges in January while the others were dropped. After Serb forces took control of Foca, whose population at the time was 52 percent Muslim and 45 percent Serb, they unlawfully detained thousands of Muslims and Croats. The women were separated from the men and many were later interrogated and subjected to humiliating treatment, brutal beatings and sexual assaults, as part of a systematic attack on non-Serbs. On one occasion Zelenovic took 4 women who were detained in a school to a separate classroom and assigned each one to a soldier who raped them. He also aided and abetted in the gang rape of one woman by at least 10 soldiers. The rape was so violent she lost consciousness. The lawyer for the accused, Zoran Jovanovic, said his client may appeal. "The trial chamber sentenced my client to 15 years' imprisonment, which was within the limits requested by the prosecution, based on a prior plea agreement. The trial chamber said it considered all mitigating circumstances. Today the chamber gave only a short explanation of the sentence, so after reading it properly, we shall see if we want to appeal," Jovanovic said. He said other defendants found guilty of similar crimes and who had worked with Zelenovic and were jointly accused, had received heavier sentences. "I would like to say that the co-defendants, from the same indictment, were tried in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Radovan Stankovic got sentenced to 16 years, while Gojko Jankovic got sentenced to 34 years imprisonment," Jovanovic said. Zelenovic arrived in the Netherlands to face trial in June 2006 after he was arrested in western Siberia in August 2005, where Russian media said he had been working on construction sites under an assumed name.

ITN Source | April 5, 2007

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