BiH killer gets unprecedented maximum sentence

03/06/2009

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) -- A man who killed six people was sentenced to 40 years in prison and compulsory treatment in a mental institution, local media reported on Tuesday (June 2nd). Tomislav Petrovic was accused of gunning down three neighbours a year ago in Lipnica, near Tuzla, then boarding a local bus where he shot three more people dead. The bus driver was badly wounded. Four teams of psychiatrists examined Petrovic. While all agreed he is a danger to society, not all agreed he is schizophrenic. "The court ... determined that he had not been completely mentally incompetent when the crime was committed and thus found him responsible," said Fehija Pasic, the trial chamber president. This marks the first maximum prison sentence imposed by a BiH court. (Nezavisne Novine, BHRT, RTVFBiH, Pincom, Reuters, DPA - 02/06/09)