Ejub Ganic and nine other defendants pleaded not guilty in the “Dobrovoljacka” case before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina today.
The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has confirmed the indictment of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina against ten people on suspicion of having committed a war crime in the former Dobrovoljacka Street in Sarajevo, in early May 1992.
Namely, the investigation on this case was opened for the second time in 2018 and it included 11 people, however, due to the poor health of Kerim Lucarevic, the case against him was separated.
Thus, the indictment covers Ejup Ganic, Zaim Backovic, Hamid Bahta, Hasan Efendic, Fikret Muslimovic, Jusuf Pusina, Bakir Alispahic, Enes Bezdrob, Ismet Dahic, and Mahir Ziska.
This investigation regarding the events in Dobrovoljacka Street was suspended on January 17th, 2012, but was reopened in 2018 due to suspicion that a war crime was committed. That is, the investigation was conducted on suspicion of war crimes against civilians, against the wounded and sick, against prisoners of war, and on suspicion of the crime of unlawful killing and wounding of enemies.
The events from Dobrovoljacka Street in Sarajevo (today Hamdija Kresevljakovic Street) are considered crucial for the defense of Sarajevo and BiH. There was a conflict between members of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) and the Territorial Defense of BiH, but even today there is speculation about the number of killed.
The Hague tribunal also gave an opinion on the “Dobrovoljacka” case, establishing that the JNA column in Dobrovoljacka Street was a “legitimate military target.”
