Page 9294
1 Monday, 14th July 1997
2 (10.00 am)
3 SENTENCING
4 THE REGISTRAR: It is the case IT-94-1-T, the Prosecutor v
5 Dusko Tadic.
6 JUDGE McDONALD: Good morning. This is the sentencing for
7 Mr Dusko Tadic. Mr Tadic, can you hear me?
8 MR TADIC: No.
9 JUDGE McDONALD: Mr Vujin, can you hear me? You are using
10 your earphones.
11 MR VUJIN (in interpretation): No, I can't.
12 JUDGE McDONALD: Can you hear me now, Mr Vujin?
13 MR VUJIN (in interpretation): Yes, it's okay.
14 JUDGE McDONALD: Mr Tadic, can you hear me?
15 MR TADIC: No.
16 JUDGE McDONALD: Can you hear me now?
17 MR TADIC: Yes.
18 JUDGE McDONALD: Very good. Thank you. Mr Tadic, do you
19 have anything to say before the Trial Chamber pronounces
20 its sentence?
21 MR TADIC: No, your Honours.
22 JUDGE McDONALD: On 30th June and 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th
23 July 1997 the Trial Chamber conducted a pre-sentencing
24 hearing and received submissions by the Prosecution and
25 the Defence as to the appropriate sentence to impose
Page 9295
1 upon you. The Trial Chamber has considered those
2 submissions and today will issue its sentencing
3 judgment. Before pronouncing sentencing, however,
4 I have a few comments to make regarding the offences for
5 which you were convicted and the circumstances
6 surrounding their commission.
7 On 7th May 1997 the Trial Chamber rendered its
8 Opinion and Judgment, unanimously finding you guilty of
9 serious violations of international humanitarian law.
10 The precise findings are set forth in that Opinion and
11 Judgment. By way of a general summary, however, the
12 Chamber found that on ten separate occasions you beat,
13 stabbed and kicked 19 Muslim men in Kozarac, the
14 Prijedor Barracks and the Omarska and Keraterm camps,
15 and you aided and abetted in the beating of one Muslim
16 prisoner and the sexual mutilation of another at the
17 Omarska camp. Further, the Trial Chamber found that you
18 killed two Muslim men in Kozarac by slitting their
19 throats. You played an active part in the attack on
20 Kozarac, its violent ethnic cleansing and the forced
21 expulsion of villagers from Sivci and Jaskici. You
22 participated in the seizure, selection and transfer of
23 non-Serbs to the Omarska, Keraterm and Trnopolje camps,
24 with the awareness that most of the surviving prisoners
25 would be deported from Bosnia and Herzegovina. You
Page 9296
1 committed these offences intentionally and with sadistic
2 brutality, using knives, whips, iron bars, the butt of a
3 pistol, sticks and by kicking the victims and tightening
4 a noose around the neck of one of them until he became
5 unconscious.
6 Why? The testimony of one witness explained your
7 pattern of cruel and brutal conduct against your former
8 friends and neighbours. The witness testified that you
9 threatened that the area:
10 "... would be a Greater Serbia; it would be theirs
11 and that we Muslims will not be there, that there will
12 be no place for them".
13 This came to pass, for before the conflict Opstina
14 Prijedor contained approximately 50,000 Muslims and
15 6,000 Croats, whereas only 6,000 Muslims and 3,000
16 Croats remained after the ethnic cleansing. Thus you
17 embraced the extreme principles of Serb nationalism and
18 you played an increasingly major role in the SDS.
19 The Trial Chamber recognises that these crimes
20 were committed during an armed conflict and it
21 acknowledges the virulent propaganda that recalled real
22 and imagined abuses by one religious group against the
23 other. Those who sought territorial and political gains
24 initiated a campaign to realise these goals by force of
25 arms with limitless cruelty and viciousness. You
Page 9297
1 responded to this campaign, however, and you must bear
2 responsibility for your criminal conduct. To condone
3 your actions, even when committed in this context, is to
4 give effect to a base view of morality and invite
5 anarchy.
6 For the reasons set forth in the sentencing
7 judgment, and having considered all of the evidence, the
8 arguments of the parties and the Tribunal's Statute and
9 Rules, the Trial Chamber imposes on you, Dusko Tadic,
10 the following penalties. Would you please rise,
11 Mr Tadic?
12 As to Counts 10 and 11, for inhumane treatment as
13 a crime against humanity, the Trial Chamber sentences
14 you, Dusko Tadic, to ten years' imprisonment.
15 For cruel treatment as a violation of the laws or
16 customs of war, the Trial Chamber sentences you, Dusko
17 Tadic, to nine years' imprisonment.
18 As to Counts 13 and 14, for inhumane treatment as
19 a crime against humanity, the Trial Chamber sentences
20 you, Dusko Tadic, to seven years' imprisonment.
21 For cruel treatment as a violation of the laws or
22 customs of war, the Trial Chamber sentences you, Dusko
23 Tadic, to six years' imprisonment.
24 As to Counts 16 and 17, for inhumane treatment as
25 a crime against humanity, the Trial Chamber sentences
Page 9298
1 you, Dusko Tadic, to seven years' imprisonment.
2 For cruel treatment as a violation of the laws or
3 customs of war, the Trial Chamber sentences you, Dusko
4 Tadic, to six years' imprisonment.
5 As to Counts 22 and 23, for inhumane treatment as
6 a crime against humanity, the Trial Chamber sentences
7 you, Dusko Tadic, to seven years' imprisonment.
8 For cruel treatment as a violation of the laws or
9 customs of war, the Trial Chamber sentences you to six
10 years' imprisonment.
11 As to Counts 33 and 34, for inhumane treatment as
12 a crime against humanity, the Trial Chamber sentences
13 you, Dusko Tadic, to ten years' imprisonment.
14 For cruel treatment as a violation of the laws or
15 customs of war, the Trial Chamber sentences you, Dusko
16 Tadic, to nine years' imprisonment.
17 As to Count 1, for various acts of persecution as
18 a crime against humanity, including the killing of Osman
19 Besic and Edin Besic, the Trial Chamber sentences you,
20 Dusko Tadic, to 20 years' imprisonment.
21 As to the concurrence of the sentences, each of
22 the sentences is to be served concurrently inter se.
23 The Trial Chamber recommends that, unless
24 exceptional circumstances apply, Dusko Tadic's sentence
25 should not be commuted or otherwise reduced to a term of
Page 9299
1 imprisonment less than ten years from the date of this
2 sentencing judgment or of the final determination of any
3 appeal, whichever is the latter.
4 In accordance with Rule 101E, Dusko Tadic is
5 entitled to credit for time for which he was detained in
6 custody pending his surrender to the Tribunal or pending
7 trial or appeal. Although he was arrested on 12th
8 February 1994, his detention pending surrender to the
9 International Tribunal did not commence until 8th
10 November 1994, when Trial Chamber I issued a formal
11 request to the Government of The Federal Republic of
12 Germany to defer to the jurisdiction of the
13 International Tribunal. Consequently Dusko Tadic is
14 entitled to credit except in respect of the minimum term
15 recommendation made by the Trial Chamber in paragraph 76
16 of the Sentencing Judgment for 2 years, 8 months and 6
17 days of the time served in relation to the sentence
18 imposed by the Trial Chamber as of the date of this
19 Sentencing Judgment, together with such additional time
20 as he may serve pending the determination of any appeal.
21 The Trial Chamber directs the Registrar to submit
22 to the Trial Chamber and to the parties a list of States
23 Members of the United Nations or other States who,
24 pursuant to Article 27 of the Statute, have indicated to
25 the Security Council their willingness to accept
Page 9300
1 convicted persons. The Trial Chamber decides that it
2 shall consider the list submitted by the Registrar and
3 will entertain written submissions from the parties as
4 to the State in which Dusko Tadic should serve his
5 sentence. The Trial Chamber shall then order the
6 Registrar to make arrangements for the transfer of the
7 prisoner to the selected State, in consultation with the
8 President of the International Tribunal and the
9 Presiding Judge of this Trial Chamber, but shall suspend
10 the order until such time as the Appeals Chamber has
11 considered and determined the appeal of the parties.
12 Until that time, in accordance with Rule 102,
13 Dusko Tadic, you are to remain in the custody of the
14 International Tribunal.
15 This concludes the entry of the Sentencing
16 Judgment. If there's nothing else from the parties ...
17 Very good. Then we will stand adjourned.
18 (10.15 am)
19 (Hearing adjourned)
20 --ooOoo--
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