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THE HAGUE, May 31 (FENA) - Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović, former heads of the State Security Service (SDB) of Serbia, have been sentenced to 15 years in prison each, accused of war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, including the charges that they were part of a joint criminal enterprise.
This is a final verdict in the case against Jovica Stanišić, the former head of the State Security Service of Serbia, and Franko Simatović, the former commander of the Special Operations Unit (JSO), pronounced after renewed proceedings, by the Mechanism for International Criminal Courts (IRMCT).
The chairwoman of the five-member Appeals Council, Graciela Gatti Santana, said that this is the final verdict after the proceedings started before the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia, whose successor is the IRMCT.
The Appeals Chamber accepted the appeal of the Prosecutor's Office and concluded that they were responsible for the joint criminal enterprise (JCEU), which aimed at the violent removal of the non-Serb population throughout the duration of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
By this verdict, they were also found guilty of war crimes in Bijeljina, Zvornik, Doboj, Trnovo, Bosanski Šamac and Sanski Most.
The verdict handed down by the IRMCT to Stanišić and Simatović rounded off the work of the Hague Tribunal on establishing the facts and prosecuting war crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Until now, no Serbian government official had previously been convicted before the Hague Tribunal for involvement in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The proceedings against Stanišić and Simatović lasted slightly longer than two decades and have been one of the longest proceedings before the Hague Tribunal.
They were arrested on March 13, 2003, in Serbia, after which Simatović was transferred to the ICTY on May 30, and Stanišić 11 days later.
Their trial began after six years on the basis of the third amended indictment.
After the first-instance trial, the Hague Tribunal acquitted Stanišić and Simatović in 2013, but in 2015, the Appellate Panel accepted the Prosecution's appeal and, due to irregularities in the procedure, ordered that the trial be repeated on the same indictment.
The new trial of Stanišić and Simatović began on June 13, 2017, and lasted five years, with a half-year break due to the coronavirus pandemic.
After the renewed proceedings, the IRMCT issued a first-instance verdict in 2021 in which Stanišić and Simatović were sentenced to 12 years in prison each for participating in the crimes committed in Bosanski Šamac in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The decision of the Appeals Chamber of the Hague Tribunal to completely renew the trial was the first such decision in any of the cases tried for the war crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
During the 228 days of the renewed trial, a total of 80 witnesses were heard, of whom 51 Prosecution witnesses and 29 Defense witnesses, and more than 6,000 pieces of evidence were accepted.
(FENA) S. R.
