Bosnian Court Orders Wartime Rape Case Retrial

A court ruled that former Bosnian Army military policeman Adem Kostjerevac, who was accused of raping a Serb woman in Zvornik during the war in 1992, must be retried.

Autor:

Nermina Kuloglija-Zolj

5. November 2021. | 16:27

This post is also available in: Bosnian

Adem Kostjeravac after he was deported to Bosnia and Herzegovina from the US. Photo: Bosnian state prosecution.

The appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court has upheld a prosecution appeal, quashed a verdict that threw out the indictment of Adem Kostjerevac, and ordered a retrial of the former Bosnian Army military policeman.

The indictment was thrown out in March, when the judges ruled that Kostjerevac was not questioned in accordance with the law during the investigation.

Kostjerevac is accused of forcing a Serb woman to have sexual intercourse with him at least twice in the village of Bajrici in the Zvornik area, where she was detained in the basement of a mill which served as a prison, in the period between September 18 and October 4, 1992.

The woman was pregnant at the time and the rape caused her to have a miscarriage, according to the indictment.

The crime was allegedly committed when Kostjerevac was a military policeman with the First Muslim Brigade of the Bosnian Army.

Kostjerevac was extradited from the US in June 2020.

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