NGO: Shameful ruling by Belgrade Appellate Court to release war criminal

In a trial that lasted more than a decade, Vujovic was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the massacre of civilians taken from a hospital in Vukovar, on the Ovcara farm in November 1991, when more than 200 people were killed, the NGO said in a statement.

"The Appellate Court explained the decision saying the convict will not commit the same crime until the end of the sentence, which is, to say the least, insulting. Of course, he will no longer have the opportunity to take part in the armed aggression on Vukovar, unless Serbia again intends to go on conquest campaigns," the statement reads.

By the decision, according to 'Women in Black,' "Serbia's judicial institutions have once again shown that the process of dealing with the past at the institutional level is completely blocked and they are more willing to release convicted war criminals than to indict them and thus satisfy justice for victims."

The NGO warned that the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office in Belgrade was not issuing new indictments "but is just waiting for the regional prosecutor's offices to hand over theirs. The Special Court in Belgrade is exhausting the families of victims and survivors with inappropriate court proceedings."

The Belgrade Appellate Court, 'Women in Black,' adds, "humiliates and insults victims' dignity with its decisions and makes justice meaningless."