UN appeals court extends sentences of 2 Serbs convicted of crimes during Balkan wars
BELGRADE, Serbia (AA): A UN court has extended the sentences of two allies of the late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic for their involvement in crimes against humanity during the Balkan wars.
The Appeals Chamber of the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals rejected on Wednesday the appeals by Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic against their 12-year convictions in 2021 and increased their sentences to 15 years each.
Stanisic, the former head of the State Security Service, and former special operations unit chief Simatovic were found guilty of aiding and abetting murder, deportation and crimes against humanity in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia from 1991-1995.
The appeals chamber quashed parts of the 2021 verdict that acquitted Stanisic and Simatovic of participating in certain murders, exiles and crimes against humanity from 1991-1995 and ruled that they should also be punished for participation in these crimes.
In a statement, UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “takes note of this appeal and extends his thoughts to the victims and survivors and their families who have suffered from the crimes for which both defendants have been found guilty.”
Officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina welcomed the decision, saying it reveals the reality of the attacks on Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Today’s decision is extremely important because it has been proven that the officials of the Serbian State Security Agency were directly involved in the attacks in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” said Denis Becirovic, the Bosniak member of the Presidential Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Croat member of the council, Zeljko Komsic, said that “justice has been served” against those who supported the “Greater Serbia” project in the 1990s.
Stanisic and Simatovic were first captured in 2003 as part of an operation code-named “Sword” by the Serbian police and transferred to The Hague the same year.
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