Bosnia-Herzegovina: Court Grants Compensation to War Crimes Victim
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Version 0 of 1. A Bosnian court has for the first time granted compensation to a war crimes victim in criminal proceedings in a case against two former Bosnian Serb soldiers who raped a teenage girl during the 1992-95 war. Courts have jailed hundreds of war criminals but have always directed victims to pursue compensation in expensive civil procedures, which many victims avoided because it required them to reveal their identities. The former soldiers, Bosiljko Markovic and Ostoja Markovic, were sentenced to 10 years in prison on Wednesday and ordered to pay $15,160 to a Croat woman they raped during the Serb attack on her village in 1992. Experts say the verdict paves the way for adjustments in legal practice that would compensate victims and bring criminals to justice in one trial. |