By Viviana Knorr.
On 30 June at 15:30h the International Criminal Court of the former Yugoslavia in The Hague added a new judgment to the Appeals Chamber Judgement list in the case of Mićo Stanišić and Stojan Župljanin, two former high ranking Bosnian Serb officials were rendered.
The verdict
The Appeals Chamber today confirmed the convictions of Mićo Stanišić, former Minister of the Interior of Republika Srpska, and Stojan Župljanin, former Chief of the Regional Security Services Centre of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The Appeals Chamber affirmed that Stanišić and Župljanin are criminally responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in BiH in 1992, in 20 and eight municipalities respectively. The Judges affirmed both of the accused’s sentences of 22 years’ imprisonment.
The judgement was broadcasted live on the Tribunal’s website. More info about the judgement can be found on ICTY website via this link. http://www.icty.org/en/press/appeals-chamber-affirms-stanisic-and-zupljanin-sentences
Mićo Stanišić is the former Minister of the Interior of Republika Srpska. Stojan Župljanin is the former Chief of the Regional Security Services Centre of Banja Luka and were indicted as participants in a joint criminal enterprise (JCE) aimed at permanently removing Bosnian Muslims, Bosnian Croats, and other non-Serbs from the territory of a planned Serbian state in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).
At the time, the Trial Chamber found that Stanišić and Župljanin participated in this joint criminal enterprise and where many of the crimes committed in a number of municipalities in BiH were foreseeable to the accused. Both Stanišić and Župljanin were sentenced by The Trial Chamber to 22 years imprisonment for crimes against humanity and war committed between April and December 1992 in BiH.
Since its establishment, the Tribunal has indicted 161 persons for serious violations of humanitarian law committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991. Proceedings against 151 accused individuals have been concluded. Proceedings are currently ongoing for 10 accused.
