Bosniak Fighter Jailed for Abusing Captured Soldiers

The cantonal court in Bihac found Cehic guilty on Wednesday of having physically mistreated two captured members of the Bosnian Army in Pecigrad in the Cazin municipality in July 1994 and five captured members of the of the Bosnian Army’s Fifth Corps in Zagrad in the Velika Kladusa municipality in June 1995.

The verdict said that Cehic committed the crimes as a member of the National Defence of the Western Bosnia Autonomous Region, a small unrecognised statelet in the country’s north-west which existed between 1993 and 1995.

Presiding judge Jasminka Karabegovic said the court trusted the testimonies by the injured Bosnian Army soldiers who described how Cehic had mistreated them.

“On the other hand, the defence has not offered evidence that would confirm its allegations [that Cehic was innocent],” Karabegovic said.

“In addition to examining the defendant, who said he had not committed this crime, the defence requested that he underwent an expert examination. The findings presented by expert witness Nada Milovanovic clearly determined that the defendant was mentally sane and rational at the time when the crime was committed and that he could control his actions,” she added.

The verdict can be appealed at the Supreme Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia was headed by secessionist Bosniak leader Fikret Abdic.

While leading the breakaway statelet, Abdic fought against fellow Bosniaks who were loyal to the Sarajevo government. His troops battled the Bosnian Army and cooperated with Serb and Croat forces.

Abdic was later convicted of participating in the killing of Bosniaks and jailed for war crimes by a Croatian court, but was released in March 2012 after serving two-thirds of his sentence.