Date Set for Perisic Appeal Hearing
Judges will hear appeals case of Momcilo Perisic on October 30.
Date Set for Perisic Appeal Hearing
Judges will hear appeals case of Momcilo Perisic on October 30.
The appeals hearing for former Yugoslav army chief Momcilo Perisic will take place on October 30, the Hague tribunal announced this week.
In September 2011, Perisic was convicted of aiding and abetting crimes committed against civilians during the 44-month sniping and shelling campaign directed against Sarajevo, which left thousands dead, as well as of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in which more than 7,000 Bosniak men and boys were murdered.
The verdict was the first the tribunal had passed against a Serbian state official for crimes committed in Bosnia during the war.
Perisic was also found guilty of failing, in his role of military commander, to punish members of the Croatian Serb army, known as the SVK, for launching rocket attacks on Zagreb in May 1995.
In total, Perisic was convicted of 12 out of 13 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, which included murder, persecution and inhumane acts. He was acquitted of an extermination charge related to Srebrenica. (For more, see Perisic First Belgrade Official Convicted for Bosnia Crimes.)
He was sentenced to 27 years in prison with credit for time already served.
During the appeal hearing, Perisic will have ten minutes to address the court himself, if he chooses to do so.
Perisic surrendered to the tribunal in March 2005 and his trial began in October 2008. Closing arguments were held in March 2011.
Rachel Irwin is IWPR’s Senior Reporter in The Hague.
