Bosnia Increases Sentence for Killings of Serbs in Brcko

The appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court on Friday raised former Croatian Defence Council brigade commander Mensur Djakic's sentence from two to eight years in prison.

Djakic was initially found guilty last September of having watched a member of the 108th Brigade of the Croatian Defence Council, which he commanded, murdering three captured Bosnian Serbs in the village of Bukvik in the Brcko District on September 15, 1992.

The court found that the three Serbs were injured and were being treated in a house in Bukvik when they were killed.

The verdict said that all three Serbs were killed in front of Djakic, who did nothing about it and failed to take any steps to punish the killer.

The court established that Djakic led the 108th Brigade's military operation in Bukvik and therefore had an obligation to punish the perpetrator.

A defence appeal against his conviction was rejected as unfounded.

The appeals chamber meanwhile upheld the acquittal of Croatian Defence Council ex-fighter Begzad Kajtazi, who was cleared of killing two Serb women during the military operation in Bukvik.

The court determined that two Serbs were killed during the operation in Bukvik, but was unable to determine beyond reasonable doubt that Kajtazi committed the murders.

The verdict is final and cannot be appealed.