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| |  | | Nedjo Samardzic | | | context : | Former Yugoslavia  | | judgement place : | Bosnia Herzegovina | | status : | Sentenced | | particulars : | Sentenced to 13 years imprisonment by the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 7 April 2006 for crimes against humanity; sentence increased to 24 years by the Appeals Panel on 13 December 2006 | | position : | Member of the army of the Republika Srpska |
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| | | | Nedjo Samardzic was arrested on 19 October 2004.
He was first charged by the Prosecutor of the district of Trebinje (Bosnia and Herzegovina) for war crimes against civilians, in violation of Article 142(1) of the Criminal Code of the Republika Srpska, on 17 April 2005.
The Prosecutor of the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina separately opened a criminal procedure against Nedjo Samardzic for crimes against humanity. He subsequently joined both cases and issued a consolidated indictment on 31 August 2005. The Court confirmed the Indictment on 28 December 2005.
On 12 January 2006, Nedjo Samardzic pleaded not guilty to all counts of the Indictment.
The trial commenced on 6 March 2006 and was held in private session until 30 March, at the request of the Prosecutor, in order to protect witnesses.
The Defence did not dispute the widespread and systematic attacks against the Bosnian civilian population by Serbian forces in Foca municipality between April 1992 and March 1993. Instead, it contended that Nedjo Samardzic had no knowledge of these attacks, and therefore could not be found guilty of crimes against humanity.
The Court rejected this argument, judging that the attacks were so widespread that anyone present in the region of Miljevina for a prolonged time between 1992 and 1993, as was the case with the accused, would necessarily have had knowledge of the attacks.
The first instance trial panel found Nedjo Samardzic guilty of two of the five counts of crimes against humanity held against him in the Indictment:
- Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty (Article 172(1)(e) of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina);
- Coerced sexual intercourse and sex slavery (Article 172(1)(g)).
The other counts could not be proven due to insufficient evidence.
The Court sentenced Nedjo Samardzic to 12 years in prison, taking into account the aggravating factor of the young age and vulnerability of the victims.
Nedjo Samardzic had already been convicted on 22 June 1990 by the High Court of Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) for murder, and had not served the whole of its sentence. The State Court hence made the sentences consecutive, amounting to a total jail term of 13 years and 4 months.
Both the Prosecutor and the Defence appealed this judgement.
The Appellate Panel handed down its decision on 13 December 2006. The Panel doubled Samardzic’s sentence from 12 to 24 years for the crime of persecution (Article 172(1)(h)), in connection with the following crimes:
- Deportation or forcible transfer of population (Article 172(1)(d));
- Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty (Article 172(1)(e));
- Coerced sexual intercourse and sex slavery (Article 172(1)(g));
- Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to physical or mental health (Article 172(1)(k)).
The count of murder was not upheld, due to insufficient evidence.
The time spent in detention since 19 October 2004 was discounted from the sentence. | |    | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | nationality : | | | Bosnia and herzegovina | | | date of birth : | | | 07.04.1968 | | | period of charges : | | | 04.1992 - 03.1993 | | | judgement period : | | | 06.03.2006 - 13.12.2006 | | | charges : | | | Crimes against humanity | | | profile last modified : | | | 08.09.2008 |
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