Klickovic et al:Bosanska Krupa Case Appealed

Lawyers for Gojko Klickovic, Mladen Drljaca and Jovan Ostojic asked for confirmation of the first instance verdict saying that the appeal has no grounds. The prosecutor, ?Dzevad Muratbegovic, said that the verdict established the facts incorrectly and incompletely and that both the criminal procedure and Criminal Code have been violated.The first instance verdict from November 2010 acquitted Klickovic, Drljaca and Ostojic of having participated in the joint criminal venture aimed at dividing the municipality of Bosanska Krupa and ethnically cleansing it of non-Serb inhabitants.According to the indictment, Klickovic was chief of the War Presidency and commander of the Crisis Headquarters of the Serb municipality of Bosanska Krupa; Ostojic was commander of the 11th Light Krupa Infantry Brigade of the Army of Republika Srpska and Drljaca was former president of the Chamber of Temporary Military Court in Jasenica.The prosecutor stated that the first instance chamber was mistaken when it concluded that Jovan Ostojic, as the army commander, did not know that the crimes against the prisoners had been committed.”Information was available to Ostojic and everyone knew that non-Serb civilians were detained in Petar Kocic primary school,” said the prosecutor.For Mladen Drljaca, who was charged by the prosecution with being a member of the commission for the exchange of prisoners of war in Bosanska Krupa, the prosecutor claimed that the first instance chamber wrongly concluded that his participation in the commission was not a criminal act.”The fact that people volunteered to be exchanged does not rule out a criminal act,” explained Muratbegovic.Dusko Tomic, lawyer for Gojko Klickovic, argued that even the Dayton Peace Accord puts its seal of approval to “that joint criminal enterprise of establishing the Serb municipality of Bosanska Krupa” given that Republika Srpska exists today.”Shall we put Dayton on trial too? Klickovic was on the side of the Serb Democratic Party, SDP, and his people. If the SDP is to be put on trial, let it be done differently, but not without a verdict for the Croatian Democratic Union and Bosniaks’ Party of Democratic Action,” said Tomic.Klickovic assessed that the indictment by the Prosecution was “political from day one”.? Milan Trbojevic, lawyer of Mladen Drljaca, said he was left speechless by the prosecutor’s appeal.”It is a classical example of abuse of law – the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the past 20 years, has been pushing for the indictment with non-existent arguments,” said Trbojevic.The Trial Chamber will make the decision regarding the appeal by the prosecution at a later date.