The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), in the Special Department for War Crimes, is handling a case related to events in Kotor Varos from 1992, which includes multiple individuals, among them the current president of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska (NARS), Nenad Stevandic.
“In the Special Department for War Crimes, there is an ongoing case concerning events in Kotor Varos in 1992, which involves multiple individuals, among them Stevandic Nenad,” the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH stated.
The Prosecutor’s Office notes that this announcement does not prejudge the outcome of the criminal proceedings nor undermine the principle of the presumption of innocence, and reminds that everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty by a final verdict.
To recall, the name of Nenad Stevandic was already mentioned in a court process ongoing before the Court of BiH, related to crimes committed in this municipality in the summer of 1992. As previously reported by BiH media, witness Fikret Skopljak testified before the court that in June 1992, after a military incursion into Kotor Varos, he was beaten in a garage by Danko Kajkut and Nenad Stevandic.
According to his testimony, Kajkut and Stevandic encountered him in front of his house and, along with another young man, took him to a garage where he was beaten. The witness stated that Kajkut cursed at him and punched him, after which, according to him, Stevandicsaid: “Don’t anymore, I will,” and then continued to beat him, as a result of which, he claims, seven of his teeth were knocked out.
During the hearing, the Prosecutor’s Office showed a video from the archives of the Hague Tribunal, and the witness recognized his gate, as well as Stevandic entering the yard. The defense attorney of the accused Kajkut challenged the legality of obtaining the video.
It should be mentioned that trials are ongoing for numerous crimes committed in Kotor Varos, a municipality that before the war was one of the most ethnically diverse in BiH, with nearly equal participation of Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs. Everything changed in June 1992 when Serb forces launched a comprehensive attack, took control of the police, hospital, and municipal building, and established camps where non-Serb men were detained, tortured, and killed.
More than 20.000 Bosniaks and Croats from Kotor Varos were expelled, and hundreds were killed or are still listed as missing. Serb forces burned numerous villages and looted the property of the non-Serb population.
For the crimes in Kotor Varos, Bosiljko and Ostoja Markovic, Ljubisa Vranjes, and Mladen Milic have so far been convicted by final verdicts, while trials are ongoing against several accused, including Danko Kajkut, Bosko Peulic, Slobodan Zupljanin, and others.
The wartime events from this municipality have once again come into focus after a video from 1992 resurfaced, which, according to witnesses, features Nenad Stevandic, then a young man who, according to some claims, was close to the then special units.
Nenad Stevandic currently holds the position of president of the NARS and is the leader of the United Srpska party. He has not been indicted for war crimes so far, but his name is increasingly appearing in witness testimonies and court proceedings related to the crimes of 1992, Klix.ba writes.
