Former Commander Fit to Stand Trial in Killings, Doctor Says

Presenting her findings before the Cantonal court in Bihac, a physician said defendant Hasan Icanovic’s health allows him to stand trial on charges of killing two prisoners and beating others in 1994.

Dr. Nada Milovanovic said a benign brain tumor and a speech impediment do not affect Icanovic to understand the judicial proceedings.
 
“His speech problems are not so strong that one cannot understand him when he speaks, and they stem from stuttering problems he has had since he was a child,” Milovanovic said.
 
Icanovic is charged with killing two prisoners of war, members of the National Defence of the Western Bosnia Autonomous Region, and beating other captives with a rifle butt in the Latica Glavica area near Velika Kladusa in late 1994.

According to the charges, Icanovic was Commander of the 505th Brigade with the Fifth Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed the indictment against him in September, but the case was subsequently referred to authorities in Bihac.

Icanovic was arrested in late August and released on September 22 under conditions, including home detention and a ban on travel.

The trial will begin on May 14.