12 years in prison confirmed for crimes in Janja

(Patria) - The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the first-instance verdict by which five former police officers were sentenced to a total of 12 years in prison, while three were acquitted of charges of crimes against the civilian population in Janja from 1992 to 1994.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced that the second-instance verdict has been dispatched, by which the appeals of the State Prosecutor's Office and the defense attorneys of Milan Đokić, Branislav Trišić, Zoran Tanasić, Žarko Milanović, and Mladen Krajišnik were rejected as unfounded, and the verdict from June 2023 was confirmed.

For war crimes against the civilian population, Đokić and Trišić were sentenced to three years each, and Tanasić, Milanović, and Krajišnik to two years each. Savo Mršić, Milivoje Čobić, and Milan Marković were acquitted of all charges.

The statement states that during the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the second half of September 1992 to the first half of 1994 - Trišić, as an operative in the Bijeljina National Security Service, and Tanasić, Milanović, and Krajišnik as police officers, tortured civilians of Bosniak nationality.

Đokić, in his capacity as commander of the Janja Police Station, was convicted of aiding and abetting torture. Đokić was found guilty of failing to prevent others from abusing civilians detained for questioning about weapons.

Trišić was convicted of beating three civilians with a metal rod and his hands, and Tanasić of beating two civilians. The first-instance verdict established that Milanović and Krajišnik beat one civilian each.

Mršić, Čobić, and Marković were acquitted of charges of beating civilians, one of whom later died.

No appeal is allowed against this verdict.