Ratni zločin u Biljanima, Predmet: Marko Samardžija
War crime in Biljani, Verdict: Marko Samardžija

Author(s): Lejla Čengić
Contributor(s): Edvin Kanka Ćudić (Editor)
Subject(s): Criminal Law, International Law, Law and Transitional Justice, Local History / Microhistory, Military history, Studies in violence and power, Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), Peace and Conflict Studies, Court case
Published by: Udruženje za društvena istraživanja i komunikacije (UDIK)
Keywords: War crime in Biljani; Marko Samardžija; the Serbian Army and their war crimes; mass grave sites; Bosniak victims;
Summary/Abstract: The attack on the village of Biljani started in the early morning hours of July 10, 1992, and was led by the 17th Infantry Brigade of the Serbian Army in co-operation with the reserve and active police officers of the Police Department. In this village Serbian forces executed 264 men, women, children and elderly Bosniaks. The oldest victim was 85 years old Bećo Ćehić, while the youngest victim was a four months baby Amila Džaferagić, who died in a pit together with her mother. At the sites of the mass graves of Lanište I, Crvena Zemlja I and II, 220 bodies were exhumed. The killed Bosniaks from the hamlets of Donji Biljani, Brkići, Osmanovići, Domazeti, Džaferagići, Čehići, Mešani and Jabukovci were identified, and in the years that followed, bodies were found regularly in smaller and individual graves, in forests or abandoned and burnt buildings. In the area of Biljani, 34 graves were found, from which 34 bodies were exhumed. Marko Samardžija was found guilty of ordering, in his capacity as commander of the 3rd company of the Sanica battalion, a systematic attack on July 10, 1992 against Muslim civilians in the region of Ključ. On November 03, 2006, Samardžija was therefore sentenced to 26 years imprisonment. On May 25, 2007 the Appeals Chamber partially upheld the appeals of the indictee and his attorney, and rendered a decision revoking the first instance verdict. On October 23, 2008, Samardžija was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for crimes against humanity in Biljani village, Ključ municipality. This book includes a list of exhumed persons missing in the Biljani area. The data were obtained from the Institute for Missing Persons of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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