Having completed a trial in the criminal case of Enver Buza, on 30 September 2019 the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina delivered a trial judgment finding the accused Enver Buza guilty of the criminal offense of War Crimes against Civilians under Article 142 of the Criminal Code of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia, as read with Article 30 of the same Code.
The accused was found guilty that during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at the time of armed conflict between the Army of BiH and the HVO, he acted in violation of rules of international humanitarian law in the manner that he, as a superior officer and acting commander of the Independent Prozor Battalion (SB) of the Army of BiH, with real and effective control over members of the SB Prozor unit which, in the early morning hours of 14 September 1993, directly commanded over the attack on the village of Uzdol, municipality of Prozor, during which 27 Croat civilians were killed in the hamlets of Križ, Zelenike and Raiče in a cruel and brutal manner, including women, children and elderly, during which the accused was physically in the vicinity of the place where the crimes took place, observing the course of action for the sake of coordinating and commanding the action, and even though he knew that crimes were committed failed to take the necessary and reasonable measures to punish the perpetrators.
The Court sentenced the accused Enver Buza to 12 (twelve) years of imprisonment.
Pursuant to Article 188(4) of the CPC BiH, the costs of the criminal proceedings shall be covered from within the court’s budget appropriations.
Pursuant to Article 198(2) of the CPC BiH, the victims are advised to pursue their redress claims in civil proceedings.
Pursuant to Article 126(2) of the CPC BiH, following the judgment pronouncement the Court issued a decision ordering prohibitive measures against the accused Enver Buza, specifically the traveling ban and the obligation of periodical reporting to the relevant state authority.
