Today, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina rendered the first instance verdict in the case of Nikola Kovačević before Section I for War Crimes, finding the accused guilty of Crimes against humanity and sentencing him to 12 years imprisonment.

In the pronouncement of its verdict the Trial Panel stated that the Accused had committed the said offence in the period May to August 1992, by participating in a wide and systematic attack of the Army of the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina against the civilian population of the Sanski Most municipality, in which the Accused committed, aided and instigated the persecution of Muslims and Croats.

The pronounced verdict contains, inter alia, the following findings: in the period May to August 1992, alone or together with other members of the military and the police, the Accused detained and tortured civilians in various facilities (most notably the Betonirka garages).  Also, in June and July 1992 the Accused participated in the taking of detained civilians to the Manjača camp, and in the beatings of the civilians upon their arrival at the camp.  Further, on 6 June 1992, the Accused took part in severe beating causing griveous injuries to a number of civilians who were brought to the Manjača camp.   The Accused also participated in the removal of bodies of these civilians, which were never found.  He also took part in the forcible transfer of some 60 civilians to the Manjača camp on 7 July 1992.  The detainees were placed on a single truck and crammed under a tarpaulin so that at least 19 of them suffocated.  The bodies of these victims were exhumed from the „Ušće Dabar“ mass grave in Sanski Most.

The time the Accused has spent in custody from 10 October 2005 will count towards the sentence.

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