INAPPROPRIATELY LENIENT SENTENCE FOR RAMIZ DURAKOVIĆ

BANJA LUKA, OCTOBER 30 /SRNA/ – The Head of the Association of Republika Srpska Women Victims, Božica Živković Rajilić, described as inappropriately lenient the three-and-a-half-year prison sentence handed down by the Court of BiH to Ramiz Duraković, commander of the 43rd Brigade of the so-called Army of BiH, for war crimes committed against Serb civilians in the Čajniče area in 1993.

Rajilić points out that the Court of BiH routinely sentences Serbs to long prison terms for allegedly committed war crimes, while issuing minimal sentences when it comes to crimes against Serbs. "For this kind of crime against Serb civilians in Čajniče, a long-term or life sentence should have been imposed," Rajilić told SRNA. She adds she is not certain the Court of BiH will uphold the existing sentence in the second-instance ruling. The Court of BiH, in a first-instance judgment, sentenced Ramiz Duraković, commander of the 43rd Brigade of the so-called Army of BiH, to three years and six months in prison for war crimes committed against Serb civilians in the Čajniče area in 1993. Duraković was convicted in this first-instance ruling for the murder of Darinka Pijević and the burning down the houses of Rajko Pijević and Miloš Pijević.