Bosnian US embassy attacker gets 15-year jail term

In a retrial a Bosnian court today sentenced a Muslim to 15 years in prison for an "act of terrorism" after firing dozens of shots at the US embassy in Sarajevo in October 2011.
Jasarevic, his head bowed as he listened to the verdict being read out, had sprayed the embassy with a total of 105 bullets using an automatic weapon for almost an hour before he was shot by the police.
One police officer was injured in the attack.
In December 2012, Jasarevic had been sentenced to 18 years in prison but the verdict was annulled after his legal rights were found to have been infringed. The retrial opened in September.

"The court has decided that Mevlid Jasarevic committed an act of terrorism... Thus committing a criminal act of terrorism," judge Hilmo Vucinic said today.
"This court [now] sentences him to 15 years in prison."

The judge said the court "took into consideration his remorse" as Jasarevic claimed he was a "victim of those who were telling me it was necessary to fight for Islam, to lead jihad".
"The court however wanted to show the international community that Bosnia is determined in its fight against terrorism and protection of its citizens," he said.
Jasarevic, "as a member of the Wahhabi movement and aiming to express his dissatisfaction with the position of Muslims in the world, demanded a withdrawal of NATO, the US and Germany from Afghanistan" in a video message recorded before the act, he added.

The video message contained "direct threats to the governments of the United States and Germany because of the commitment of both countries in Afghanistan", Vucinic said.
Jasarevic aimed "to intimidate the local population and exert pressure on the governments of other countries", he said.