Đakić sentenced to eight years in prison, Mulahalilović announces appeal to the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina

(Patria) - The Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced Mensur Đakić to eight years in prison, while acquitting Begzada Kajtazija of charges for a crime committed in September 1992 in the village of Bukvik near Brčko.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina rejected the defense's appeal, accepted the prosecutor's appeal, and overturned the first-instance verdict, increasing Đakić's prison sentence from two to eight years, while the acquittal of Kajtazi was upheld.

According to the verdict, Đakić was found guilty of, as commander of the First Battalion of the 108th Brigade of the Croatian Defense Council (HVO), observing from close range a member of the Battalion he commanded committing the murder of three captured persons of Serbian nationality, failing to take necessary and reasonable measures to punish the perpetrator.

“Đakić is not charged with ordering the murder, Đakić is not charged with committing the murder. Đakić is charged with failing to punish the perpetrators of the murders. The Criminal Code of the SFRY does not prescribe liability for that,” said Đakić's defense attorney Osman Mulahalilović for the Brčko portal Otisak.

He emphasized that, “contrary to the mandatory application of the more lenient law, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the umpteenth time, applies a stricter law, contrary to the practice of the European Court in Strasbourg, e.g., in the case of Maktouf/Damjanović, and arbitrarily applies the Criminal Code to the detriment of Đakić.”

Therefore, Mulahalilović announced that he will file an appeal against this verdict with the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The president of the Bukvik local community, Ilija Jovičić, stated that this verdict of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina could represent a certain turning point in the sanctioning of crimes committed against Serbs in this country.

“Unlike the first-instance verdict, the second-instance verdict somewhat meets the expectations of the families of the deceased Bukvik residents. If it is known that from September 12 to 15, 64 persons of Serbian nationality were killed in the villages of the Bukvik plateau, of which as many as 25 in the direction where Đakić attacked our village, then the verdict is modest. Perhaps our activities and the letter we sent to several addresses in Bosnia and Herzegovina helped increase Đakić's sentence,” said Jovičić.