Wartime Bosnian Army Officer Acquitted of Shelling Serb Civilians

The Bosnian state court’s appeals chamber has upheld the war crimes acquittal of the former commander of the Bosnian Army’s Fourth Corps, Ramiz Drekovic, his lawyers told BIRN.

The state prosecution’s appeal against the acquittal was rejected as unfounded by the court, the lawyers said.

In the first-instance verdict in May 2023, the court concluded that it had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt that Drekovic had ordered the Fourth Corps in the village of Bjelimici to indiscriminately shell Serb civilians in Kalinovik three times in the period from May 21 to June 7, 1995.

“In order to be able to establish the defendant’s criminal responsibility in this specific case, it must be proved that the defendant issued orders and that those orders were acted upon,” said presiding judge Stanisa Gluhajic when pronouncing the verdict.

Gluhajic added that it had been proved without doubt that Drekovic issued an order to a forward command post in the village of Bjelimici to fire five projectiles on May 25, 1995, and that an 11-year-old boy had been injured.

“However, the chamber assesses that the prosecution has not proved that the injury occurred because the defendant’s orders were acted upon,” said Gluhajic.

Drekovic was also accused of bearing responsibility for the killing of a 15-year-old girl and injuries to five schoolchildren on June 3, 1995, as well as injuring one civilian on May 22.

But the court determined that although Fourth Corps units were militarily active on those dates, Drekovic’s orders had not been included as evidence in the case file.

The verdict said that the court could not accept the prosecution’s view that only Drekovic could have issued the order to open fire.

Judge Gluhajic also noted that the prosecution’s expert witnesses, due to the passage of time, were unable to determine with certainty the calibre of the projectiles and the type of weapons used in the attacks listed in the indictment.