Bosnia Convicts Female Ex-Soldier of Killing Serb Boy

The Bosnian state court in Sarajevo on Wednesday found Elfeta Veseli guilty of killing a 12-year-old boy, Slobodan Stojanovic, on an undetermined date in the second half of July or first half of August 1992 in the village of Bajrici-Novo Selo.

"The chamber has determined that Veseli committed the murder of the boy with direct premeditation by shooting him in the head with a firearm from an immediate distance," said presiding judge Darko Samardzic.

The prosecution alleged that she killed the Serb boy out of revenge for the murder of her father, but Veseli denied this, insisted that she found out about her father's death after the boy had gone missing.

The court meanwhile acquitted Sakib Halilovic, former commander of the Sabotage Squad of the Bosnian Army's Liplje-Kamenica Joint Units, of witnessing the murder of the boy but failing to take action to punish the perpetrator.

The defence insisted during the trial that Veseli was never a member of any military unit and never participated in the war.

But the court rejected this argument.

"After analysing all pieces of evidence, the chamber determined the existence of the Sabotage Squad of the Bosnian Army's Liplje-Kamenica Joint Units, of which Veseli was a member. Halilovic was its commander," the judge said.

Veseli was extradited from Switzerland in 2016.

The verdict can be appealed.