BOSNIA: ZVORNIK: 3 MUSLIMS ARE SENTENCED 20 YEARS EACH FOR MURDER скачать в хорошем качестве

BOSNIA: ZVORNIK: 3 MUSLIMS ARE SENTENCED 20 YEARS EACH FOR MURDER

(24 Apr 1997) Natural Sound In a trial denounced by the international community as a 'travesty', a Bosnian Serb court, Thursday, sentenced three Muslims to 20 years each on murder charges despite their claims they were massacre survivors. The sentences, handed down in Zvornik, in the Serb part of eastern Bosnia, stirred outrage among critics who called the trial unjust. The Muslims, known as the Zvornik Seven, claimed to have escaped from a massacre of thousands of Muslim men when Bosnian Serbs captured the town of Srebrenica, south of Zvornik, in July 1995. They said they had survived months living in the wild as a peace plan was finalised, and made their way to the line between Serb territory and the Muslim-Croat federation. Zvornik, in eastern Bosnia, became the focus of international criticism, Thursday, after a Bosnian Serb court jailed seven Muslim men found guilty of murdering four Serbs. They arrived at court by van, to hear the verdict, in a trial which has been labelled a farce by many in the international community. Showing little emotion, the men, dressed in ordinary clothing, filed into the courtroom to hear where their future lay. And they didn't have to wait long in the packed room. Three of the men were sentenced to 20 years for murder and the other four were sentenced for a year each for the illegal possession of firearms. The Muslims, known as the Zvornik Seven, claimed to have escaped from a massacre of thousands of Muslim men when Bosnian Serbs captured the town of Srebrenica, south of Zvornik, in July 1995. After living in the wild, fighting to survive they said they surrendered when they spotted U-S soldiers patrolling the former front line in May 1996. However, soldiers in the peace force were sceptical of the men's account. Some of them were reportedly wearing military uniforms, carrying sidearms and had fresh haircuts, and they did not immediately tell the American soldiers they were Srebrenica survivors, U-N officials said. When the trial opened a week ago, the defendants claimed they were tortured by Bosnian Serb police into confessing to the crime. And even some of the evidence at the trial appeared to throw doubt on the men's guilt. A forensic report presented as evidence said the cause of the Serbs' death could not be established because the bodies were badly burned, cut into pieces with a saw, and their parts scattered. The Serb court also denied the Muslim defendants the right to be represented by lawyers from the Muslim-Croat federation. Serb attorneys were appointed and were given just five minutes to present their defence. But the court stopped short of passing the death penalties the prosecution had requested. The three men accused of murder, Nedzad Hasic, Ahmo Harbas and Behudin Husic, strongly deny the charges of murdering four Serb civilians in the village of Krusev Dol, near Srebrenica, last May. Hasic said he would not accept the verdict and 20-year sentence because he was innocent. His court-appointed lawyer said he would appeal to a higher court on Bosnian Serb territory. But until then Hasic and the others will remain behind bars. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...