Bosnian Prosecution Angered by Judge’s Criticism

A judge’s stinging analysis of the war-crimes work of the Bosnian courts has drawn an angry response from the state prosecution.

Judge Joanna Korner in a commissioned report said it was high time to review and control war crimes indictments handled by Bosnian state prosecutors.

They should stop filing new indictments issued with the purpose of “fulfilling the quota” or due to pressure by the media and victims’ groups, she said.

Korner said the prosecution should focus on suspects who had held so-called command responsibility, that is, the ones who ordered the commission of crimes.

“To reduce the number of outstanding cases, it is recommended that the Prosecution… undertake a comprehensive overview of cases in which trials have still not commenced so they could determine whether any of them fulfil the criteria for being referred to entity courts,” Korner said in her analysis, which was presented in Sarajevo by the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to Korner, when an investigation indicates that suspects do not fulfil the criteria for trial before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the state prosecution should refer the investigations to entity prosecutions.

“The practice of filing indictments against suspects with the purpose of fulfilling the quota, achieving favourable statistical indicators or due to pressure by the media and victims’ groups, should be discontinued.

“They should not use the precious time and resources to attempt to determine the identity of ‘unknown’ low-ranking perpetrators associated with investigations against high-ranking suspects. The emphasis should be placed on quality, not quantity,” Korner’s report reads.

She also recommends that prosecutors and investigators be obliged to attend additional courses on the elements of crime and forms of responsibility at least once a year during the first two years of work with the Special War Crimes Section of the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

According to Korner’s analysis, Goran Salihovic, the chief prosecutor of the Bosnian state prosecution, should initiate changes making the work of the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina more efficient.

She recommended that “a chief for managing proceedings” be appointed to assist the deputy chief prosecutor.

“The chief prosecutor should not be responsible for daily management of work on war-crime cases. The deputy chief prosecutor should be entrusted with that responsibility,” the report indicates.

Boris Grubesic, spokesperson of the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, accused Korner of attacking the Bosnian judiciary.

“The alleged analysis represents an attack on judicial institutions. It is a way for the OSCE Chief of Mission to influence cases, while being subjected to certain investigative actions in the ‘Radoncic and others’ case.”

Jonathan Moor, the OSCE Chief of Mission, responded by saying this was not an issue of a war or conflict, pointing out that Milan Tegeltija, president of the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of BiH, said the recommendations already had the Council’s support.

Moore said that Judge Korner had been recruited to prepare an analysis on the prosecution of war crimes on the basis of interviews with judges and prosecutors dealing with those cases.

“It is up to the very institutions, including the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, HJCP, the State Prosecution and the Court, how they will respond and implement the recommendations if they want to,” Moore said. The OSCE Mission had been following court processes in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1996, he noted.