On 11 May 2025 the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina delivered a Trial Judgment in the case of the accused Duško Zorić, finding the accused guilty that, by the acts described in the conviction part of the Judgment, he committed the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity under Article 172(1)h), as read with Subparagraph a), all as read with Article 180(1) of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CC BiH).

The Court sentenced the accused to fifteen (15) years of imprisonment, crediting the time the accused spent in pre-trial custody from 10 January 2025 onwards.

The accused was found guilty of having, during the month of July 1992, within a widespread and systematic attack launched by the army and police of the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, subsequently Republika Srpska, aimed against the civilian Bosniak population of the village of Zecovi, Prijedor Municipality, knowing about such an attack and that his actions formed part of the attack, as a member of the Rasavačka Company, which was formed and staffed with personnel from the area of ​​the Rasavci Local Community, and which operated as part of the 6^th Battalion of the 43^rd Prijedor Motorized Brigade, in the period from 23 to 28 July 1992, together with other members of the Rasavačka Company and members of the Rasavci reserve police station, participated in the persecution of Bosniak civilians from the area of ​​the village of Zecovi, in connection with the murders, in such a way that at an unspecified time on 23 July 1992, at the intersection of the roads leading to Svetinja (fishpond), the village of Zecovi, the accused Duško Zorić pointed an automatic rifle at a group of captured Bosniak civilians and ordered them to line up along the hedge, after which he approached civilian B.I. and, grabbing him by the chest, separated him from the group he was in, and, having dragged him to the middle of the macadam road, killed him by firing a short burst at close range in the chest region of ​​civilian B.I., who fell, after which the accused Duško Zorić, standing over B.I., fired a few more bullets into his back, after which the accused, firing from the same automatic rifle, killed four more (4) captured civilians from the aforementioned group.

Conversely, in the acquittal part of the Judgment, pursuant to Article 284c) of the BiH Criminal Procedure Code, the accused Duško Zorić is acquitted of the charges, for it was not proven that, by the acts described in individual sections of the acquittal, he committed the criminal offense he has been charged with – Crimes against Humanity under Article 172(1)h) as read with Subparagraphs a) and k), in conjunction with Article 180(1) and Article 29 of Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

An appeal from the Judgment may be filed with the Court’s Appellate Division Panel within 15 days of the day when a written copy of the Judgment was received.

The Court remanded the accused Duško Zorić in continued custody, originally ordered by the Decision of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. S1 1 K 044635 25 Kv of 11 January 2025, due to the existence of circumstances referred to in Article 138 CPC BiH, in conjunction with the custody grounds under Article 132(1)a) CPC BiH. According to the Decision, his custody may last for a maximum of 9 (nine) months, i.e., until 11 February 2027 or until a new decision of the Court.

An appeal from the Decision shall not stay its execution.