“I feel sorry for all the victims, and I curse my own hands for having inflicted pain in any way on innocent people. I wish my sincere words to be understood as a balm for those wounds and as a contribution to the reconciliation of all people in Prijedor and the restoration of the situation that existed before the war.” |
Predrag Banović, was a guard at the Keraterm detention camp in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. Banović participated in the abuse and persecution of non-Serb detainees within the camp. He murdered five prisoners as the result of his participation in beatings and also beat 27 detainees with baseball bats, truncheons, cables and iron balls. Banović was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment.
Read Guilty Plea Statement
3 September 2003 (extract from transcript of hearing)
“ [Interpretation] Your Honours,
I have pleaded unequivocally as guilty. My guilty plea was an expression of sincere remorse concerning the events in Prijedor, and especially the Keraterm camp. I gave an interview about my role in this to the investigators of the Tribunal. Today, I wish to add only the following: My arrest and transfer to The Hague, as well as that of my brother, was something I experienced with great fear, mostly because the propaganda was always that The Hague was a place for the quiet murder of the Serbs. Fortunately, very soon, I came to the conclusion that this propaganda was a lie.
Through the proceedings up to this point, I have experienced enlightenment. I have gathered the strength to face the truth and myself. This is why I made the decision to change my plea. I deplore the period of war and hatred, and I regret that I did not find a way to avoid mobilisation and my role in the camp. I feel sorry for all the victims, and I curse my own hands for having inflicted pain in any way on innocent people. I wish my sincere words to be understood as a balm for those wounds and as a contribution to the reconciliation of all people in Prijedor and the restoration of the situation that existed before the war. ”