prijava
SARAJEVO, February 27 (FENA) - Former Bosnian Serb Army soldier Milomir Davidović was sentenced to seven years in prison for committing a crime against humanity by raping a woman in Foča during the war in July 1992.
The Bosnian state court on Wednesday convicted Milomir Davidović, alias Lici, of forcing a Bosniak woman to have sexual intercourse with him in July 1992.
The court found that another Bosnian Serb soldier, Dragan Zelenović, took the woman from the secondary school in Foča on an undetermined date between July 3 and 18, 1992 to an apartment in the so-called ‘Lepa Brena’ building, where she was raped by defendant Davidović and other soldiers.
Judge Jasmina Ćosić-Dedović said that the court believed the testimony of the victim, who said that women detained at the secondary school were taken out in order to be sexually abused.
“The witness described what happened at the apartment of Dragan Zelenović, alias Zelja, in a pretty convincing manner,” said judge Jasmina Ćosić-Dedović, BIRN reports.
The court ordered the defendant to pay the victim 10,000 Bosnian marks (about 5,100 euros) in compensation.
The Hague Tribunal in 2007 sentenced Zelenović to 15 years in prison for taking part in the rape and abuse of women and girls at temporary detention centers in Foča in 1992.
The Hague Court said at the time that his crimes were “part of a pattern of sexual abuse” of Bosniak women by Serb troops in the Foča area.
Due to a lack of evidence, Davidović was acquitted of raping another Bosniak woman at the ‘Lepa Brena’ building.
He was also cleared of raping a third Bosniak woman in an abandoned house in the village of Dobro Polje in the same time period because the victim said she was not sure whether or not Davidović was the perpetrator.
“The court established that the witness did not want to accuse Davidović of something he had not done,” Ćosić-Dedović said.
Passing the sentence, the court found no aggravating circumstances to take into account, the judge said.
As mitigating circumstances, the court took into account Davidović’s good conduct during the proceedings and the fact that he said he felt sorry for all rape victims in Foča, among other factors.
The verdict can be appealed.
(FENA) S. R.
