Indictment against Basara and Anicic Confirmed

The Bosnian state prosecution filed the indictment in July 2014. It was confirmed in August 2014.

The state prosecution had previously stated that the two defendants were citizens of Serbia and reside in Belgrade. Neither the court nor the prosecution were able to confirm whether the cases have been referred to Serbian judicial bodies for further processing or not.

The state prosecution has charged Basara and Anicic with participating in the persecution of the Bosniak and Croat population, as well as participating in murder, forced resettlement, deportations, detention, the shelling of undefended villages and buildings, and the destruction of religious buildings.

The indictment alleges that at the time Basara was the commander of the Sixth Sanska Brigade of the Bosnian Serb Army, while Anicic was the commander of the municipal headquarters of the Territorial Defense in the Serb-majority municipality of Sanski Most.

The state prosecution claimed that several hundred Bosniak and Croat civilians, including women, children, and the elderly were killed in attacks by the army and police. Both the army and the police allegedly targeted civilians and the villages of Mahala, Muhici, Otoka, Brisevo, Stara Rijeka, Stari Majdan, Hrustovo, Vrhpolje, Lukavice, Begici, Kenjari, and others.

“Many men were captured and forcibly taken to unknown locations or to Manjaca and other detention camps. Many of them went missing without a trace since then. They were exhumed from several mass graves in that area later on,” the prosecution stated.