In the criminal case against the accused Rade Vlasenko, Drago Končar and Milan Krupljanin, Panel of Section I for War Crimes of the Appellate Division of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), having held its session, delivered a Judgment dismissing the appeal of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH relative to the acquitting part of the trial judgment as ill-founded, and upholding Judgment of the Court of BiH no. S1 1 K 023656 16 Kri of 26 July 2018 in that part. In contrast, the appeal of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH relative to the dismissed charges in the trial judgment is granted, the judgment of the Court of BiH in that part is revoked and a trial before the Panel of the Appellate Division of the Court of BiH is ordered.
By Trial Judgment of the Court of BiH no. S1 1 K 023656 16 Kri of 26 July 2018 (the acquitting part of the enacting clause of the judgment, the accused Rade Vlasenko, Drago Končar and Milan Krupljanin, pursuant to Article 284(c) of the Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CPC BiH) were acquitted of the charge that they, by the acts referred to in sections 1 through 3 of the referenced part of the judgment, committed the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity under Article 172 Paragraph 1 Subparagraph (h) as read with Subparagraphs (a) and (k), in conjunction with Article 180(1) and Article 29 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina (CC BiH). In contrast, in the dismissed charges in the trial judgment, pursuant to Article 283(d) of the CPC BiH, the Court dismissed the charge that the accused Rade Vlasenko, by the acts described in section 4 of the referenced part of the judgment, committed the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity under Article 172 Paragraph 1 Subparagraph (h) as read with Subparagraph (h), in conjunction with Article 180(1) and Article 29 of the CC BiH.
The Prosecutor filed an appeal from the judgment due to essential violation of criminal procedure, as well as incorrectly and incompletely established facts. The Prosecutor moved the Appellate Division Panel to grant the appeal as well-founded, revoke the judgment in the acquitting part, and order a retrial at which the accused will be found guilty and receive a sentence of imprisonment under the law.
Defense counsel for the accused persons filed responses to the Prosecutor’s appeal, moving the Court to dismiss it as ill-founded.
On 20 November 2018, the Appellate Division Panel held an open session at which the Prosecutor and defense counsel fully stood by the arguments presented in their respective submissions.
