Trial against Fikret Abdić for criminal offences of war crime against civilians stated in Article 120, Paragraph 1 of the OKZ RH and war crime against prisoners of war stated in Article 122 of the OKZ RH.
INDICTMENT
The indictment No:KT-224/95 issued by the Higher Public Prosecutor in Bihać, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on 08 August 1996.
Based on Article 34 of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovin, and the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Legal Assistance in Civil Issues and Criminal Matters dated on 26 February 1996, the stated indictment was accepted by the Rijeka County State Attorney's Office, and shortly after that also by the Karlovac County State Attorney's Office, following the Republic of Croatia Supreme Court's ruling No:II 4-Kr 327/01-3 dated on 15 June 2001 which appointed the Karlovac County Court as having the territorial and actual jurisdiction over the case.
GENERAL DATA
Karlovac County Court
Case No: K-6/01
War Crimes Council (judges' panel): judge Jasminka Jerinić-Mušnjak, Council President; judge Željko Udier, Council member; lay judges Milka Martinjaš, Đurđa Slavica and Ivica Gračan, Council members
Prosecutor: Aleksandar Mitić, Karlovac County Deputy State Attorney
Criminal offence: war crime against civilians stated in Article 120, Paragraph 1 of the OKZ RH, and war crime against prisoners of war stated in Article 122 of the OKZ RH
Accused person/Defendant: Fikret Abdić, attending the trial
Defence Counsels: Davor Popović and Zvonko Žaja, lawyers from Karlovac
VERDICT
On 31 July 2002, the Karlovac County Court pronounced the first-instance verdict which found the accused Fikret Abdić guilty as charged. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the criminal offence of war crime against civilians, and 15 years in prison for the criminal offence of war crime against prisoners of war, so he received a joint sentence of 20 years in prison.
On 30 March 2004, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia dismissed the appeal lodged by the accused Abdić as unfounded and upheld the first-instance court judgement.
However, when deliberating on the third-instance court verdict, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia on 08 February 2005 partially accepted the appeal lodged by the accused Fikret Abdić and amended the sentencing sections of the first-instance court verdict and the second-instance court verdict - thus pronouncing 14 years in prison for the criminal offence of war crime against civilians and 10 years in prison for the criminal offence of war crime against prisoners of war, so Abdić was pronounced a joint sentence of 15 years in prison.
