Zelenović (IT-96-23/2) “Foča”

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Source: Zelenović (IT-96-23/2) “Foča”

Trial Judgment: 4 April 2007

Dragan Zelenović, a member of VRS and a leader of Serb paramilitary forces in the Foča area, stood trial for allegedly having committed, aided and abetted or otherwise participated in the torture and rape of Muslim women held in various detention facilities in the Foča area of BiH. The prosecution accused him of individual criminal responsibility for torture and rape as both crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war.

In 2007, the Trial Chamber accepted Zelenović’s guilty plea for torture and rape as crimes against humanity. The Trial Chamber sentenced Zelenović to 15 years’ imprisonment, finding as aggravating circumstances that he personally committed torture and rape on multiple occasions against multiple victims, and as mitigating circumstances that he pleaded guilty, expressed remorse, and cooperated with the prosecution.