The Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Milanko Kajganic, stated that the job of that judicial institution is difficult when it comes to denying the genocide because, as he said, they have not received any reports from the police or other agencies about the committed criminal act.
During the press conference where he spoke about corruption, he referred to the problems faced by the BiH Prosecutor’s Office when it comes to cases related to the denial of genocide.
When asked whether an indictment will be filed against the president of the BiH entity Republika Srpska (RS) for denying the genocide, Kajganic said:
“In the report, we stated the fact that we did not receive any report from the police agencies in BiH about the committed criminal act, which deals with the mentioned topic. All of these reports submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH by individuals and legal entities, among others against the aforementioned person, have been assigned to prosecutors. Prosecutors have so far made around 30 negative prosecutorial decisions. Until now, there has not been any indictment, because the prosecutors simply encountered certain difficulties in order to prove the existence of the mentioned criminal act, because the public incorrectly presents the criminal act in the direction of bans on denial of genocide. It is clearly stated what the essence of that criminal act is. It should be done in a way that produces a consequence.”
As he said, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, due to the problem of the lack of judicial practice in BiH when it comes to the aforementioned issue, suggested centers for the education of judges and prosecutors in the Federation of BiH (FBiH) and RS entities that in 2023 they hire international experts from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) or other European countries.
On the territory of BiH, as of July 28th, 2021, the denial of genocide and the glorification of war criminals are prohibited by law.
E.Dz.
