Yesterday, January 7th, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina(BiH) confirmed the indictment in the case of Radislav Krstic, which charges the defendant with having committed the criminal offence of crimes against humanity under Article 172, paragraph 1, item h), in connection with items a) and d) of the Criminal Code of BiH, all in connection with Article 180, paragraph 1, and Articles 29, 30, and 31 of the same Code.
The defendant Radislav Krstic is, among other things, charged with having, during the war in BiH, from mid-May until at least the end of September 1992, in the area of the municipality of Sokolac, within the framework of a widespread and systematic attack by the Territorial Defence of the Serb Republic of BiH – within which the Territorial Defence of the Municipality of Sokolac was formed and operated – and later by the Army of the Serb Republic of BiH, i.e. the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), as well as police forces of the Ministry of the Internal Affairs of the Serb Republic of BiH, the Public Security Station of the Municipality of Sokolac, directed against the civilian population of the municipality of Sokolac, as commander of the 2nd Romanija Motorized Brigade of the VRS, knowingly and being aware of that attack and that his actions constituted part of that attack, together with other persons known to him, planned, ordered, committed, incited, and aided and abetted in the planning, preparation, commission, and concealment of the criminal offence of crimes against humanity.
He is also charged with persecution through the forced displacement of the population, intentional deprivation of the lives of other persons (killing), destruction and looting of movable and immovable property, and the demolition of a religious building, thereby knowingly and willingly participating in the implementation of a joint criminal plan of the military, civilian, and police authorities of the municipality of Sokolac, the aim of which was the forced expulsion of Bosniaks from the village of Novoseoci from territory under the control of Serb authorities.
“After the attack, women and children were separated from the men, and the captured men were transported by military trucks to a landfill at the location of Ivan Polje, where they were lined up and killed by gunfire,” was previously stated in a statement by the Prosecutor’s Office.
During the commission of the crime, as stated by the Prosecutor’s Office, looting and destruction of property were carried out, and the local mosque was demolished and its remains thrown onto the bodies of the victims at the Ivan Polje landfill: “At the said location, 44 victims were killed, the youngest of whom was 14 and the oldest 77 years old. The bodies of 43 victims have been exhumed and found, while the mortal remains of one victim are still being searched for.”
It should be mentioned that Krstic was, before the Hague Tribunal, in the capacity of commander of the Drina Corps of the VRS, sentenced to 35 years in prison for aiding and abetting genocide in Srebrenica in July 1995. He was sent to serve his sentence in England, but was attacked there in prison, after which he was returned to The Hague and then sent to serve the remainder of his sentence in Poland, from where he was again returned to the Detention Unit in The Hague. It was reported in April last year that Krstic had been transferred to Estonia, where he will serve the remainder of his sentence.
In its statement, the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH stated that Krstic is a citizen of BiH and Serbia.
Meanwhile, proceedings for crimes in Novoseoci are ongoing before the Court of BiH. In that case, those charged are Dragomir Obradovic, in the capacity of commander of the Sokolac Public Security Station, Momcilo Pajic as commander of a company of the Military Police of the 2nd Romanija Motorized Brigade, and Aleksa Gordic in the capacity of his deputy, former military policeman Nikola Koprivica, and Miladin Gasevic known as Cirko as deputy commander of the Reconnaissance Company, as well as Momir and Branislav Kezunovic, Zeljko Gasevic, and Jadranko Suka as members of that unit.
