The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has issued an order not to conduct an investigation against Željko Komšić, a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who was reported for inciting national, racial and religious hatred, discord and intolerance, due to a speech he gave last year on the occasion of the opening of the monument to Mehmed Alagić on Vlašić, the complainant confirmed to Detektor.
The criminal complaint against Komšić was filed by Slaven Galić, Deputy Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on suspicion that he committed several criminal offenses – inciting national, racial and religious hatred, discord and intolerance, illegal use of resources of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina and abuse of office, Galić’s office confirmed to Detektor.
Komšić is reported to have officially opened a monument to Mehmed Alagić, a general of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the Ljuta greda site on Mount Vlašić, at the event “Days of Victory, Days of Pride”, on August 4 last year, against whom the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has indicted for war crimes, and on that occasion he gave a speech in which he glorified General Alagić, downplayed responsibility for war crimes, thereby inciting national and religious intolerance. He is reported to have financed the construction of the monument from the budget of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Today we are talking about General Alagić, who is somehow like this Bosnia of ours, his work which was great and magnificent, and let’s be human and admit that his fate was tragic. We all know that his heart was essentially broken by injustice, betrayal, from a side he did not expect, and that needs to be said. Today, there are some other generals who found themselves in the same position as General Alagić. Does anyone think about Dudaković, does anyone think about that man? Does anyone think about the people who were unjustly accused of Dobrovoljačka? Let’s not wait for their hearts to break from this too, so that we can come together and say: “They were great people”,” said, among other things, Komšić.
According to the original and amended indictment of the Hague Tribunal from 2001 and 2002, Mehmed Alagić was charged with murder, violence, cruel treatment, unlawful imprisonment of civilians, destruction of settlements, villages, looting and destruction of property, public and private.
As stated on the website of the Hague Tribunal, on March 8, 1993, he was appointed commander of the Bosanska Krajina Operational Group of the 3rd Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that on November 1, 1993, he was appointed commander of the 3rd Corps, and on February 26, 1994, commander of the 7th Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Alagić died on March 7, 2003, and the same month the International Court concluded the proceedings against him, while later it sentenced Enver Hadžihasanović and Amir Kubura – who were included in the same case – to three and a half and two years in prison for crimes in central Bosnia.
The BiH Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to Detektor’s inquiry until the publication of the text.
Galić’s cabinet confirmed that they had received a decision from the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina on non-conduct of the investigation. This prosecutor’s office publishes decisions on the site, but anonymizes them. The anonymous decision of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, which could be related to this report, states that it is an indisputable fact that the person glorified was accused of violating the laws and customs of war and grave breaches of the Geneva Convention, as well as the fact that the same person has not been proven to have committed the criminal acts for which he is accused, or that he has not been convicted by a final verdict, which means that the actions taken by the person reported cannot be classified as the criminal offense of “inciting national, racial and religious hatred, discord and intolerance”.
“In response to the aforementioned notification, Galić filed a complaint, in which he points out serious violations of the law, including the Law on Defense of BiH, stating that Željko Komšić consciously and for political purposes misused the resources of the Armed Forces of BiH to glorify persons accused of war crimes against Croats,” the response from Galić’s office states.
Željko Komšić’s office told Detektor that they had not received any notification from the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, BIRN reports.
