| Zelenović sentencing hearing date set
The Hague, February 19 (Source: B92) - The Hague Tribunal has scheduled Dragan Zelenović’s sentencing hearing
for February 23.
Zelenović
has previously pleaded guilty to charges of multiple rape
and torture of Bosniak girls in Foča during the war in
Bosnia.
Zelenović sentencing hearing date set
The Hague Tribunal has scheduled Dragan Zelenović’s sentencing
hearing for February 23.
Zelenović has previously pleaded guilty to charges of
multiple rape and torture of Bosniak girls in Foča during
the war in Bosnia.
The Hague
prosecution has recommended a sentence of 10 to 15 years in
prison, while the defense counsel has called for 7 to 10 years
in the case.
The prosecution and the defense counsel will present the aggravating
and mitigating circumstances that may be relevant for the
Trial Chamber in their deliberation on the severity of the
sentence.
The prosecution and the defense suggested the length of prison
sentence according to the plea agreement. However, the Trial
Chamber is not bound by these sentencing proposals and can
impose a harsher sentence, including life behind bars.
Zelenović has pleaded guilty to seven counts of the indictment,
where rape and torture were qualified as crimes against humanity.
The same acts, cumulatively charged in the indictment as violations
of the laws or customs of war, were dropped by the prosecution
after the accused pleaded guilty.
Between April 1992 and June 1993, the period relevant for
the indictment, Dragan Zelenović was one of the sub-commanders
in the Bosnian Serb military police and a paramilitary leader
in Foča.
He admitted to raping two women, identified in the indictment
by their pseudonyms, 75 and 87. He committed the rapes on
several occasions in different places. One of victims was
only fifteen years old at the time.
The Chamber formally found Zelenović guilty after it
was satisfied that his guilty plea was voluntary, unequivocal
and informed and that there was a prima facie case indicating
that he in fact did commit the crimes he was charged with.
Seven other Bosnian Serbs were indicted along with Zelenović
for the rape of women in Foča. Two of the accused were
killed resisting arrest, and five of them have been sentenced
to a total of 110 years in prison by the ICTY.
All their sentences have been upheld on appeal. The Tribunal
also referred two cases to Sarajevo’s
State Court. The first-instance judgment in one of the cases,
that of Gojko Janković, was delivered last week.
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