Bosnia Court Confirms Indictment for Crimes in Bihac

Bosnia’s state court, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has confirmed an indictment charging a former Bosnian Serb policeman with crimes against humanity for leading an attack aimed at driving Bosniaks from the municipality of Bihac in 1992.

The court on Thursday confirmed the indictment charging Dusan Cimesa with participating in a joint criminal enterprise from May to December 1992 with the aim of ethnically cleansing the northwestern municipality of its majority Bosniak population.

The charges said Cimesa was the chief of the Public Security Station in Bihac at the time, which had its headquarters in the village of Ripac.

According to the court, the joint criminal enterprise with which Cimesa was involved included the deportation and forcible transfer of the Bosniak population, which led to murders, injuries and detentions.

“The defendant is charged with having led and personally participated in arranging, planning and executing an attack on inhabited places and on the Bosniak majority in the Ljutocka Dolina and Ripac area [of Bihac municipality],” a prosecution statement said.

“As a result of the attack, at least nine people were killed and around 6,000 civilians, including women, children and men, were forcibly deported,” it added.

“Following the separation and detention of able-bodied men, a total of 140 captives were taken away in groups and detained at a detention camp at the IMT garage in Ripac, where they were unlawfully held in inhumane conditions,” the statement continued.

The indictment was raised in late November last year. Under Bosnian law, Cimesa will submit his plea in response to the charges in the next two weeks.