SUD BOSNE I HERCEGOVINE СУД БОСНЕ И ХЕРЦЕГОВИНЕ Number: X-KR-07/478 Sarajevo, 3 July 2009 IN THE NAME OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Section I for War Crimes, sitting as the Panel composed of Judge Šaban Maksumić as the Presiding Judge, and Judges Snezhana Botusharova-Doicheva and Ljubomir Kitić as the Panel members, with the participation of the Legal Officer Lejla Konjić as the record taker, in the criminal case against the accused Momir Savić, for the criminal offence of Crimes against Humanity in violation of Article 172(1)h) in conjunction with items a), d), e), f), g), i) and k) of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the BiH CC), upon the Indictment of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina No. KT-RZ-205/06 dated 4 March 2008, following the public hearing that was partly closed for public, in the presence of the Prosecutor of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Adnan Gulamović, the accused Momir Savić and the Defense Counsels for the accused, Attorneys Dragan Međović and Milan Romanić, rendered and on 3 July 2009 publicly announced the following: V E R D I C T The accused: MOMIR SAVIĆ, son of Milorad and Vitorka, nee Tešević, born on 21 January 1952 in the settlement of Drinsko, the municipality of Višegrad, JMBG 2101952500145, Serb, citizen of BiH, brick-layer by occupation, married, father of one child, with residence in Višegrad, Karađorđeva Street number 91 I IS GUILTY Because: During a widespread and systematic attack of the Serb Army, police and Serb paramilitary formations directed against the civilian Bosniac population in the territory of the municipalities of Višegrad and Rudo, knowing of such an attack, firstly as a member of an unidentified paramilitary formation during the activities of the former JNA Užice Corps, and thereupon as the Commander of the 3rd Company of the Višegrad Brigade of the Republika Srpska Army, during the period from April through September 1992, he persecuted the civilian Bosniac population on political, national, ethnical and religious grounds, in the manner that he ordered, committed and in concert with other persons participated in murders, forcible resettlements of the population, confinement, rape and other inhuman acts of similar nature, in as much as: 1. During the period from 17 to 22 April 1992, while Ramiz Gušo, son of Šaban was detained with 23 other Bosniacs in the building of the Secretariat of Internal Affairs in Višegrad, he questioned him in the office located on the floor of the building, Kraljice Jelene br. 88, 71 000 Sarajevo, Bosna i Hercegovina, Tel: 033 707 100, Faks: 033 707 225 Краљице Јелене бр. 88, 71 000 Сарајево, Босна и Херцеговина, Тел: 033 707 100, Факс: 033 707 225 2. while cursing and insulting him, cursing Alija Izetbegović and the SDA party, calling him names such as „Balija“, all accompanied by one Captain Dragan, while on one occasion he punched him twice in his head and due to the force of the blow Ramiz fell on the ground and felt dizziness, while on the second occasion the accused was present when Captain Dragan punched Ramiz Gušo in the head. 3. On 29 April 1992 in the village of Meremišlje, Višegrad municipality, in a group of uniformed, masked and armed Serb soldiers, including Zoran Tešević a.k.a. Leka, he participated in the questioning and beating up of Bosniac civilians Vejsil Hota, Salko Sinanović, Hasan Mutapčić and Ibro Mutapčić, and thereupon in the plundering and burning of the house of Mehmedalija Topalović. 4. Around 23 May 1992, having previously ordered the Bosniac civilian population from the settlement of Drinsko, the Višegrad municipality, to gather at the crossroads near the cemetery in the center of Drinsko, he addressed more than 50 civilians that had gathered there, and told them it was a Serb land and that there was no more joint life of Serbs and Muslims, threatening them with death and, escorted by his soldiers, gave them an ultimatum to leave Drinsko and all their property by noon, which they did leaving in different directions carrying only their personal belongings. 5. Around 23 May 1992, in a group with Dragan Savić and several other uniformed and armed Serb soldiers, in the settlement of Drinsko, the Višegrad municipality, he took out of the houses the Bosniac civilians: Idriz Mušanović son of Aziz, Ramiz Mešanović son of Aziz, Suljo Mustafić son of Nurija, Mehmed Hubić son of Ibro, Salko Gušo son of Sabit, Senad Gušo son of Salko, Asim Gušo son of Taib, Hajrudin Gušo son of Taib, Hajrudin Topalić son of Mehmed and Ramiz Mešanović son of Ramo, they questioned and beat them first in the house of Aziz Mešanović, and thereupon took them to the nearby hill called „Kik“ to the woods called „Pušin Do“, where they executed them with fire arms. 6. On 25 May 1992, in the village of Donja Strmica, the Rudo municipality, after Dragan Savić and other Serb soldiers had abused and beat the previously arrested Bosniac civilians, namely Šaban Ćato, Šećo Ćato and Suvad Kurtić, Momir Savić, uniformed and armed, beat Suvad Kurtić son of Smail with a police baton, due to which he fell on the ground, and when at one moment Suvad stood up and started running away, he said to him: „Damn your Balija mother, you think you can escape from a Chetnik“, shot him from a fire arm and killed Suvad Kurtić having inflicted injuries on his back and head. 7. During the period from 7 June 1992 through late September 1992, he frequently visited the house of T.B. in Višegrad, wearing his uniform and arms, where he raped her and humiliated her being dirty and untidy and telling her that „she had enough of giving birth to Muslim children and that she should now give birth to Serb children“, he beat her and threatened her not to tell anything to anybody, and on one occasion he took the money she had, which all together caused a constant fear within her due to which she still feels health and mental problems. 8. On 13 June 1992, he issued commands to his unit members and participated together with them in the expulsion of Bosniac civilians from the settlement of Dušće, the Višegrad municipality in the direction of Višegrad, and after reaching the „Employment Bureau“ building, singled out from the line were Nezir Delija, Ahmet Delija, Osman Demir, Midhat Nuhanović and Uzeir Nuhanović, who were taken by the same road back towards Dušće, where they were killed by fire arms in a stable owned by Ajka Balić from Dušće, and thereafter Nezir Delija and Osman were burnt, while Ahmet Delija, Midhat Nuhanović and Uzeir Nuhanović have been unaccounted for ever since. 9. On 30 June 1992, on the „Limski bridge“, which is located on the road to the settlement of Međeđa, the Višegrad municipality, he commanded a larger group of armed Serb soldiers who arrested around 30 Bosniac civilians, mostly women and children, from where they transported them by trucks first to the Drinsko settlement for questioning and thereafter further to the premises of the Primary School „Hasan Veletovac“ in Višegrad, where more than 50 Bosniac civilians had already been detained and where they were unlawfully confined for four days in inhumane conditions, after which they were released. Thus, By the actions described under Sections 1 through 8 in the reasoning of this Verdict, within a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian Bosniac population, knowing of such attack, and having acted alone and in concert with other persons, the accused persecuted the Bosniac civilian population on political, national, ethnic and religious grounds, in conjunction with murders, forcible resettlement, rape, detention and other inhumane acts committed intentionally in order to inflict serious physical and mental injuries, Whereby he committed the criminal offence of Crimes against Humanity in violation of Article 172(1)h) in conjunction with the offences set out in: o Item k) with respect to Section 1 of the Reasoning of the Verdict o Item k) with respect to Section 2 of the Reasoning of the Verdict o Item d) with respect to Section 3 of the Reasoning of the Verdict o Item a) with respect to Section 4 of the Reasoning of the Verdict o Item a) with respect to Section 5 of the Reasoning of the Verdict o Item g) with respect to Section 6 of the Reasoning of the Verdict o Items d) and e) with respect to Section 7 of the Reasoning of the Verdict o Item e) with respect to Section 8 of the Reasoning of the Verdict 3 specifically in connection with Article 29 of the CC BiH, with respect to Sections 2 and 4 of the Reasoning of the Verdict, all together in conjunction with Article 180(1) of the CC BiH. Thus this Court Panel, pursuant to Article 285 of the CPC of BiH, applying Articles 39, 42 and 48 of the CPC BiH SENTENCES him to 18 (eighteen) years of imprisonment II Pursuant to Article 56 of the CC of BiH, the time the accused spent in custody pursuant to the Court Decision, commencing on 14 December 2007 until 17 December 2008, shall be credited towards the imposed sentence. III Pursuant to Article 188(4) of the CPC of BiH, the accused is fully relieved of the duty to reimburse the costs of criminal proceedings. IV Pursuant to Article 198(2) of the CPC of BiH, the injured parties are hereby referred to take civil action with their claims under property law.