Naser Oric, the wartime commander of Bosnian forces in Srebrenica, was sentenced by a Sarajevo court Wednesday to two years in prison for illegal possession of weapons and explosives. He was acquitted, however, of extortion charges. The sentence will include time he has already spent in custody. Both the prosecution and defense announced they will appeal the verdict.
Oric, 42, was arrested in early October 2008 after raids by Bosnian police discovered large caches of weapons, ammunition and explosives at his apartments in Sarajevo and Tuzla, and at his summer home in Olovo. He was charged at the time with threatening and extorting 167,000 KM from Dzeva Okanovic and Sead Hodzic.
Oric’s arrest came only months after a UN War Crimes Tribunal in the Hague overturned his conviction for failing to prevent the deaths of Bosnian Serb civilian detainees in 1992-1993.
--Michael Mehen
Naser Oric Sentenced
Published: 01 July 2009
By Michael
