The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has confirmed the indictment against the accused Dragan Jevtić, Slavko Bogićević and Damjan Lazarević, who are accused of having committed the criminal offense of genocide under the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (KZBiH).
Among other things, the defendants are accused of being, during a widespread and systematic attack undertaken from July 11, 1995 to November 1, 1995, by members of the VRS and the MUP of the RS, directed at members of the Bosniak people in the UN Protected Area of Srebrenica, during which an operation of permanent and forced relocation of the entire Bosniak civilian population, operations of capture, imprisonment and execution was carried out. Bosniak men and boys of military age from the Srebrenica enclave, and their burial, exhumation, and reburial operations in other locations in order to hide evidence, knowingly provided assistance to the members of the joint criminal enterprise, in such a way that the accused Dragan Jevtić in his acting capacity the commander of the Engineering Company of the 1st Zvornik Infantry Brigade of the VRS, issued orders and passed on the orders of his superiors from the Zvornik Brigade command, to carry out preparations before killing the detainees at the locations for their burial, as well as the preparation of heavy construction machinery, and the digging of areas for mass graves.
The aforementioned included ordering the members of the Engineering Company to prepare and deliver work machines to the places of execution, then providing the necessary fuel, and organizing manpower and machinists to work on digging pits before and during the killing of prisoners, to bury the dead during and immediately after the killing, using heavy construction machinery, which orders were carried out by Slavko Bogićević, in his capacity as assistant commander for morale and religious affairs, at the same time deputy commander Engineering Company and Damjan Lazarević, in his capacity as a platoon commander of the Engineering Company of the 1st Zvornik Infantry Brigade, carrying out the preparatory activities for the burial of the killed, giving specific instructions on the ground to the members of the Engineer Company of the Zvornik Brigade of the VRS, by personally determining precise positions for digging primary graves at the localities, issuing verbal instructions to the machinists for digging and covering mass graves, and directly directing the process of burying the body killed in the pits in order to cover up their tracks, immediately after the shootings of the detainees.
In count 2 of the confirmed indictment, the accused Slavko Bogićević and Damjan Lazarević are accused of having, during September and October 1995, together with other members of the Engineering Company, on the orders of senior officers from the Zvornik Brigade and the Main Staff of the VRS, participated in the organized transfer of mortal remains from primary mass graves to the so-called secondary graves, which operation was an integral part of the mass murders of detained Bosniaks and boys from the Protected Zone of Srebrenica, in such a way that they managed concrete operations on the ground, coordinated the execution of works in agreement with the security authorities of the Zvornik Brigade and the command of the Main Staff of the VRS, and carried out the organization and engagement of personnel while supervising these activities, including personal supervision of the operation of heavy machinery during the formation of secondary graves and the final hiding of mass graves, all with the aim concealing traces and avoiding the possible discovery of the aforementioned mass graves, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina announced.
