OVERTURNING OF JUDGMENT AGAINST RAMIZ DURAKOVIĆ FOR CRIMES AGAINST SERBS SHAMEFUL

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, APRIL 13 /SRNA/ – The decision of the Appeals Division Panel of the Court of BiH to overturn the first-instance judgment against Ramiz Duraković for war crimes against Serb civilians in the Čajniče area is shameful and goes against common sense, Isidora Graorac, the head of the Republika Srpska Organisation of Families of Captured, Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians, told SRNA.

She emphasizes this is yet another proof that there is no court or justice for Serb victims in BiH.

“We are witnessing another disgraceful decision of the BiH judiciary when it comes to Serb victims, if a sentence of three and a half years in prison to which Duraković was initially sentenced for crimes committed against Serb civilians in the Čajniče area, can even be called a judgment,” Graorac said.

Stating that a three-and-a-half-year sentence for such a crime is a catastrophe for the victims’ families and others, Graorac added that overturning even such a sentence defies common sense.

“All of this supports the fact that there is definitely no court or justice for Serb victims in BiH, while one of the prerequisites for coexistence and a shared future is that all those who committed crimes are brought to justice,” Graorac said.

She stressed that Serb victims are neither equally valued nor recognised before the judicial institutions of BiH.

“Therefore, we believe that the Court and the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, as well as other institutions, do not act in accordance with law and justice, and do not adjudicate as they should,” Graorac said.

She stresses that many perpetrators of war crimes against Serbs, especially civilians who could not defend themselves and were killed in the most brutal ways, have not been held accountable.

All this, Graorac says, proves that coexistence in BiH is not possible, as there is no foundation for building relations based on mutual respect and understanding.

“Serb victims and their families have not received the necessary court judgments or moral satisfaction, which is why we condemn the decision of the Appeals Division Panel of the Court of BiH to overturn the judgment against Duraković, which was issued on the basis of command responsibility,” Graorac concluded.

The Appeals Division Panel of the Court of BiH has overturned the first-instance judgment against former commander of the 43rd Drina Brigade of the so-called Army of BiH, Ramiz Duraković, by which he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison for crimes against Serb civilians committed in 1993 in the Čajniče area.

The Panel accepted the appeal of Duraković’s defence team against the first-instance judgment

Duraković was found guilty in the first-instance judgment from October 2025 because he failed to take measures to punish the perpetrators after members of the 43rd Drina Brigade of the so-called Army of BiH attacked positions of the Republika Srpska Army on February 14, 1993, in the Pisanica area and the village of Šapići, where there were no military targets.

During the attack in Šapići, civilian Darinka Pjević was killed, and the homes of Rajko and Miloš Pjević were set on fire.