Former Bosnian Policeman Gets 12 Years for War Crimes

Former policeman Nenad Tanaskovic was sentenced on Friday to 12 years in prison by the Bosnian State Court war crimes chamber for his role in atrocities committed during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.

Tanaskovic was found guilty of six of the seven counts for which he was indicted, including illegal detention, forcible transfer, torture, persecution, rape, and the destruction of civilian property.

Survivors of the atrocities were angered by the ruling, arguing that the sentence was too lenient.  Prosecutors, depicting Tanaskovic as an individual who actively and enthusiastically “hunted and collected people,” had asked for a longer prison sentence of 25 years.

Tanaskovic had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, claiming his innocence “before God and before people.”  He claimed he was a mere driver at the time of the alleged atrocities.  However, presiding judge Hilmo Vucinic found otherwise, stating “the accused [Tanaskovic] took part in a widespread or systematic attack of the Army of the Bosnian Serb Republic, police and paramilitary formations against the Muslim civilian population of the Visegrad municipality.”

Broadly, the allegations against Tanaskovic included setting fire to Muslim houses in the villages surrounding Visegrad, attacking undefended Muslim villages, and abetting in the rape of a Muslim woman.

Specific accounts include an incident that occurred sometime in May during which Tanaskovic and others deprived a Bosnian man and woman of liberty while threatening to rape the woman.  Shortly thereafter, the woman was questioned by war criminal Drago Samardzic and raped by two Serbian soldiers.

In another incident, on May 31, 1992, Tanaskovic and some Serbian soldiers attacked a village, arrested all the male inhabitants and threatened to kill anyone who fled.  After the attack, Tanaskovic joined soldiers in looting shops and he personally set fire to 2 houses.  Later that night, Tanaskovic took part in the beating of two male captives who were being detained in a local primary school.

Following the decision issued by the court yesterday, either party may now file an appeal with the Appellate Chamber.  A decision by the Appellate Chamber is final and binding. 

Tanaskovic was apprehended in July 2006 by Bosnia-Herzegovina security police, SIPA.  His trial lasted roughly six months, starting on February 2, 2007.

His actions are a small part of the widespread persecution of non-Serbs at the hands of Bosnian Serb forces during the 1992-95 war.  The war resulted in the death and expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Muslim civilians.

For more information see:

Nenad Tanasković found guilty of Crimes against humanity and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina http://www.sudbih.gov.ba/?id=505&jezik=e, 24 August 2007.

Bosnian Serb jailed for 12 years over war crimes, Yahoo, http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070824/wl_nm/bosnia_warcrimes_dc, 24 August 2007.

Bosnian Serb jailed for 12 years over war crimes, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL2415792920070824?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=22&sp=true, 24 August 2007.

Bosnian State Court Sentenced Serbian War Criminal Nenad Tanaskovic to 12 Years of Imprisonment, World Topix, http://www.worldtopix.com/bosnianews25aug2007.html, 25 August 2007.

Tanaskovic: Prosecution Calls for 25 Years, BIRN, http://www.bim.ba/en/77/10/3904/, 21 August 2007.

Nenad Tanaskovic jailed for 12 years, BIRN, http://www.bim.ba/en/77/10/3940/, 24 August 2007.