Tolimir (IT-05-88/2) “Srebrenica”

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Source: Tolimir (IT-05-88/2) “Srebrenica”

Trial Judgment: 12 December 2012; Appeal Judgment: 8 April 2015

Zdravko Tolimir, Assistant Commander for Intelligence and Security in the VRS Main Staff and a close associate of Mladić, stood trial for allegedly having planned, instigated, ordered, committed or otherwise aided and abetted in the planning, preparation or execution of a campaign of ethnic cleansing directed against Bosnian Muslim civilians in the UN safe areas of Srebrenica and Žepa, including: the systematic killing of Bosniak men and boys at multiple mass execution sites in the Srebrenica and Zvornik area; the forcible displacement and deportation of thousands of Bosniak women, children, and elderly from Srebrenica and Žepa; the murder of Bosniaks during and after the take-over of the Žepa enclave; and the taking hostage of UN military observers to prevent any military intervention against VRS activities. The prosecution accused him of individual criminal responsibility and participation in joint criminal enterprises to murder and forcibly remove, for genocide and conspiracy to commit genocide; crimes against humanity for extermination, murder, persecutions, deportation, and inhumane acts; and violations of the laws or customs of war for murder and hostage taking.

In 2012, the Trial Chamber convicted Tolimir of all charges except conspiracy to commit genocide, finding that the evidence was subsumed in the conviction for genocide. The Trial Chamber sentenced Tolimir to life imprisonment.

In 2015, the Appeals Chamber decided the prosecution’s and Tolimir’s appeals; the Appeals Chamber found that the Trial Chamber erred when it failed to enter a conviction for conspiracy to commit genocide and convicted Tolimir of conspiracy to commit genocide; the Appeals Chamber dismissed Tolimir’s appeals. The Appeals Chamber upheld Tolimir’s sentence of life imprisonment.