Attackers on Pancic sentenced to three months of prison

Court delivers verdict in case of attack on journalist of Vreme magazine and our columnist

The First Primary Court in Belgrade has sentenced yesterday to three months of imprisonment both Milos Mladenovic and Danilo Zuza because of an attack on the journalist of Vreme magazine and a columnist of our newspaper, Teofil Pancic. The crime was committed on July 24 in Zemun. At the same time, the court has freed them from custody but banned them from leaving their residence or coming closer than 100 meters from Pancic.

Mladenovic and Zuza have received the verdict because in the evening of July 24 they physically attacked Pancic in a city public transportation bus No. 83 that was standing at a bus station, causing him light bodily injuries on his head and stomach. After the attack, they escaped from the scene. Violent behavior – the crime Mladenovic and Zuza have been found guilty of – carries a sentence of between six months and five years, but due to their young age and the lack of previous criminal records they were sentenced below the legal minimum. Teofil Pancic said that he was not capable of comprehending the message sent by such verdict that amounted to only half of the minimal allowed sentence.

- I cannot understand the message that such verdict sends to the society. I have nothing to do with this anymore. I think this is a problem with the society, with the laws and values it believes in, and with the message sent by the society and courts. This is now a societal problem and it has nothing to do anymore with me personally or anyone else, said Pancic.

- If I understood everything correctly, the court established that a crime has been committed – otherwise the perpetrators would have been acquitted – but despite that it has delivered a verdict of imprisonment that is only half the minimal time prescribed by law i.e. six months.

Sidebar:
Prosecutor's office will appeal the verdict

The prosecutor's office will appeal the three months' sentence delivered by the First Primary Court in Belgrade at the end of the process against Milos Mladenovic and Danilo Zuza who were found guilty of attacking the journalist of Vreme weekly magazine, said the Republic Prosecutor's Office.

- The prosecutor's office will certainly appeal the verdict because we are not satisfied with the sentence. The prosecutor's office believes that the sentence is not proportional to the seriousness of the crime – since a journalist has been attacked – and that it is contrary to the spirit of the law, said the spokesman of the prosecutor's office, Tomo Zoric.

Zoric added that after receiving the formal written copy of the verdict the Prosecutor's Office would be able to announce more details and analyze the court's justification of the sentence. Zoric emphasized that the committed crime is violent and very serious, that it carries a penalty of imprisonment of up to five years, and that verdicts like this one cannot serve the purpose of general or special prevention of crime. Zoric reminded that the suspects had been on the run until their arrest, and that after yesterday's court session they were released. He added that the Prosecutor's Office will not only appeal the verdict, but also the release of defendants from custody due to the possibility that they might escape the legal system.

Author: NN
Source: Dnevnik, 22.09.2010; page: 13

MC Newsletter, September 24, 2010