Hague upholds RSK leader's sentence

The Hague Appeal Chamber has upheld the sentence of 35 years for former Croatian Serb leader Milan Martić.

Izvor: B92

Wednesday, 08.10.2008.

10:04

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The Hague Appeal Chamber has upheld the sentence of 35 years for former Croatian Serb leader Milan Martic. The verdict in Martic’s case was delivered on June 12 last year and found him guilty of persecution, murder, deportation and other crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws and customs of war. Hague upholds RSK leader's sentence The former president of the Republic of Serb Krajina (RSK) was also accused of the bombing of Zagreb on May 2 and 3, 1995, when he attempted to halt the persecution of Serbs from western Slavonia during Operation Blaze by launching an attack on the Croatian capital. According to the verdict, seven people died in the attack and 200 were injured. Martic’s defense team will call for an acquittal or a retrial, as the initial trial, they claim, was unfair. During the appeal, Martic said that he had come before the “Inquisition“ at the Hague and that the verdict was delivered “according to the Western stereotypes that the Serbs are the baddies.“ A key argument cited in this regard is a sentence uttered by Judge Justice Bakone Moloto (presiding), who asked one witness: “When you saw that they didn’t want you in Croatia any more, why didn’t you pick up your things and go to Serbia? Instead, you made problems for yourself and the Croats.“ The Hague prosecution was also unhappy with the verdict, considering it to be too lenient, and they too filed an appeal calling for a sterner sentence. Martic, a former police officer from Knin, was elected president of the RSK with, it is believed, significant help from Slobodan Milosevic. At the initial trial, the judges took the view that as Milosevic’s man in Croatia, Martic was complicit in the so-called “joint criminal undertaking“, whose aim was the “creation of a single Serb state through the removal of non-Serbs from territory the Serbs considered as their own.“ Milan Martic (FoNet, archive)

Hague upholds RSK leader's sentence

The former president of the Republic of Serb Krajina (RSK) was also accused of the bombing of Zagreb on May 2 and 3, 1995, when he attempted to halt the persecution of Serbs from western Slavonia during Operation Blaze by launching an attack on the Croatian capital.

According to the verdict, seven people died in the attack and 200 were injured.

Martić’s defense team will call for an acquittal or a retrial, as the initial trial, they claim, was unfair. During the appeal, Martić said that he had come before the “Inquisition“ at the Hague and that the verdict was delivered “according to the Western stereotypes that the Serbs are the baddies.“

A key argument cited in this regard is a sentence uttered by Judge Justice Bakone Moloto (presiding), who asked one witness: “When you saw that they didn’t want you in Croatia any more, why didn’t you pick up your things and go to Serbia? Instead, you made problems for yourself and the Croats.“

The Hague prosecution was also unhappy with the verdict, considering it to be too lenient, and they too filed an appeal calling for a sterner sentence.

Martić, a former police officer from Knin, was elected president of the RSK with, it is believed, significant help from Slobodan Milošević.

At the initial trial, the judges took the view that as Milošević’s man in Croatia, Martić was complicit in the so-called “joint criminal undertaking“, whose aim was the “creation of a single Serb state through the removal of non-Serbs from territory the Serbs considered as their own.“

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