Prohibiting Measures for Puljic Requested

Prosecutor Seid Marusic proposed to the Court of BiH to prohibit Mile Puljic from travelling and leaving his place of residence and order him to report to certain competent bodies.  

Besides that, Marusic requested that Puljic be banned from meeting the Prosecution witnesses and that the prohibiting measures remain in force until the pronouncement of the first instance verdict. 

The Defence requested the Court not to prohibit him from leaving his place of residence, i.e. Mostar, but to prohibit him from leaving the country only.   

The Court will render a decision concerning the Prosecution’s proposal at a later stage. 

The indictment, which the Court confirmed on December 16, alleges that Puljic participated in a joint criminal enterprise, within which forced disappearances, arrests and detention of the Bosniak population happened, in the Mostar area from May 1993 to March 1994. 

Besides that, people were taken to front lines in order to perform forced labour and be used as human shields. The indictment alleges that, as part of the joint criminal enterprise, women, children and the elderly were unlawfully detained at various locations, and forcibly transferred to the territory controlled by the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH.  

“By taking Bosniak detainees from Heliodrom detention camp and other detention facilities to the frontlines, where they performed forced labour, using them as human shields and abusing them in other ways, 11 Bosniak victims were killed, more than 70 people were wounded and two were taken in unknown direction,” the indictment alleges. 

It is alleged that Puljic was Commander of the Second Battalion with the Second Brigade of the Croatian Defence Council, HVO.