| Hague appeals chamber acquits Orić |
| 3 July 2008 | 10:22 -> 17:28
| Source:
B92 |
BELGRADE --
The Hague Tribunal Appeals Chamber has acquitted the wartime commander of the Bosnian Muslim army in Srebrenica, Naser Orić.
 | Naser Orić (Beta)
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In so doing, the Tribunal overturned the Hague's first-instance verdict which found Orić guilty on one count of failing to prevent crimes against Serb prisoners in 1992 and 1993 in this eastern Bosnian area, for which he was sentenced in 2006 to a two-year prison term.
By adopting Orić's appeal and rejecting that of the prosecution, the Appeals Chamber ruled that the court of first instance had erred in finding Orić guilty, without establishing beforehand who had committed the crimes, whether they had been the defendant's subordinates, or whether Orić had even known about the crimes in question.
Delivering the verdict, Judge Wolf Schomburg (presiding) said that there was no doubt grave crimes had been committed against Serbs in the Srebrenica area between September 1992 and March 1993, but that this was not enough to condemn a specific person, adding that Orić's guilt could not be proven beyond reasonable doubt.
Outside the court, the former Bosnian Muslim commander told journalists that he was "happy", and that the verdict confirmed that no crimes had been committed by Muslim forces in the Srebrenica area.
Orić was sentenced to two-years imprisonment in 2006 for failing to prevent war crimes being carried out on Serb prisoners, while he was also accused of the murder of imprisoned Serbs at Srebrenica police station, cruel treatment of prisoners, and the wanton destruction of 12 Serb villages between the summer of 1992 until the end of 1993, when he was the commander of Muslim forces in Srebrenica.
The prosecution demanded an 18-year prison term, while the defense called for his release.
Serbian President Boris Tadić said that it was scandalous that a war criminal should be sentenced to only two years in prison as if he were a shoplifter, while Prime Minister Vojislav Koštunica said that the verdict in the Orić case was a travesty of justice.
Reactions
Serbian authorities have reacted strongly today at the news of Naser Orić's acquittal by the Hague Tribunal.
Some have also said that the indictment itself was the problem.
President Boris Tadić considers acquittal of war criminals to be scandalous, as is the case with Orić, official with the presidential cabinet said in Belgrade on Wednesday.
They point out that president reacted in 2006, after the UN war crimes court sentenced Orić to a two-year prison term, seen as too lenient. At the time, Tadić expressed his dissatisfaction with the outcome of the trial.
"Two years is what shoplifters get and it is absolutely scandalous that such a short term sentence is given to someone who committed a war crime. The Hague Tribunal, in order to prove its credibility and legitimacy, must convict perpetrators of war crimes to maximum sentences,” Tadić said at the time.
The president said he had been to Srebrenica and Kravica and that he had seen “coffins with bodies, photographs and lists of those killed,” and that he had met with the families of the innocent victims.
"These people demand that criminals be adequately punished. That is the only way to put an end to the conflicts in the region, and turn a new page,” Tadić said two years ago.
His cabinet today stated that "the president’s position did not change after Orić’s acquittal".
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