FINAL RULING Radomir Šušnjar sentenced to 20 years in prison for war crimes against the civilian population

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Radomir Šušnjar has been finally sentenced to 20 years in prison for war crimes.

The Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, after holding a public hearing on February 11, 2020, rendered a verdict rejecting the appeal of the accused Radomir Šušnjar as unfounded, and confirmed the verdict of October 30, 2019, the Court of BiH announced.

Šušnjar was found guilty in the first-instance verdict of committing the criminal offense of war crimes against the civilian population under Article 142 of the Criminal Code of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (CC SFRY), in conjunction with Article 22 of the same Code, and the Court, for the aforementioned criminal offense, based on the cited legal provisions, applying the provisions of Articles 33, 38, and 41 of the CC SFRY, sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment.

The appeal was timely filed by the defense counsel of the accused, due to: "significant violations of the criminal procedure provisions, violation of the Criminal Code, erroneous and incomplete determination of factual circumstances, and the decision on criminal sanctions, with the proposal that the Appellate Chamber fully accept the appeal, amend the verdict in accordance with Article 314 of the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH and render a verdict acquitting the accused Radomir Šušnjar, lift his pre-trial detention, and release him immediately, or annul the contested verdict due to the existence of absolutely significant violations of the criminal procedure provisions and order a hearing before the Appellate Chamber of the Court of BiH, in accordance with Article 315 of the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH".

The Prosecution submitted a response to the appeal with the proposal that the Court reject the appeal as unfounded and confirm the first-instance verdict.        

The public hearing of the Appellate Chamber was held on February 11, 2020, at which the defense counsel and the Prosecution maintained their written appeals and reasons, respectively, their response to the appeal, elaborating them orally, while the accused agreed with the statements of his defense counsel, once again denying his responsibility for the act he was charged with.

After examining the contested verdict within the scope of the appeal claims, in accordance with Article 306 of the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH, the Appellate Chamber made a decision to confirm the verdict.

During the war years, Radomir Šušnjar was one of the commanders of Serb paramilitary units in Višegrad.