Veljko Papić finally sentenced to two years in prison for crimes in Grbavica and Kovačići

(Patria) - The Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina rejected the appeals of the Sarajevo Cantonal Prosecutor's Office and the Defense, and confirmed the verdict of the Sarajevo Cantonal Court by which Veljko Papić was sentenced to two years in prison for crimes committed in 1993 and 1994 in the Sarajevo settlements of Grbavica and Kovačići.

Papić was sentenced in 2022 after a retrial. The Prosecution proposed a heavier sentence for him, while the Defense appealed for legal reasons. The Supreme Court of the Federation issued a verdict rejecting the appeals as unfounded and confirming the verdict by which Papić was found guilty and sentenced to two years in prison for the criminal offense of "war crimes against the civilian population".

Papić was convicted as a former commander of a battalion of the First Sarajevo Brigade of the Army of Republika Srpska, who, using his position and the inability of non-Serb civilians to leave the area, planned, led, and supervised the activities of a formed labor unit located on Beogradska Street.

As stated in the verdict, Papić issued orders, forcing non-Serb civilians to work by daily, against their will, through physical and psychological abuse, compelling them to perform difficult tasks. The work was most often carried out on the front line, without pay or working hours, with poor and insufficient food.

He was convicted of ordering elderly civilians in the autumn of 1993 in Splitska Street in the evening hours to transport a large quantity of sand uphill by morning, in poor weather conditions, and of ordering the labor unit in March 1994 to remove the flag of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, threatening to kill them, and in the winter of 1993 to transport explosives to the "red building" located on the demarcation line, in the part where members of the ABiH were stationed.

He was also convicted of ordering four members of the labor unit to retrieve the bodies of Boško Brkić and Admira Ismić – who were later nicknamed the Romeo and Juliet of Sarajevo by their fellow citizens – killed on May 18, 1993, near Vrbanja Bridge.