Bosnian Croat Ex-Fighters Charged with Wartime Prisoner Abuses
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The Bosnian state prosecution said on Wednesday that an indictment has been filed charging seven former members of the military police of the Bosnian Croat wartime force, the Croatian Defence Council, and the civilian police in Zepce in central Bosnia, with crimes against Bosniak civilian detainees in 1993 and 1994.
The indicted men are Luka Babic, Alojz ‘Vrba’ Vrbic, Marinko ‘Zilo’ Martic, Franjo Jozic, Viktor ‘Karika’ Markanovic, Slavko ‘Spaje’ Spajic and Ivo ‘Cvaka’ Mrkonjic.
“In a total of 66 counts in the indictment, they are charged with war crimes against dozens of Bosniak civilians who were unlawfully detained in makeshift prison facilities, including torture, abuse, beatings and other inhumane treatment, resulting in deaths,” the prosecution said in a statement.
They are also charged with unlawfully taking people to war zones to do forced labour, which resulted in the deaths of several victims and the wounding of many others, who were not provided with adequate medical care afterwards. They are also accused of rape.
According to Hague Tribunal verdicts, Croatian Defence Council forces committed war crimes in the Zepce area. Bosniak civilians were imprisoned in detention facilities like the Silos camp, and prisoners were forced to dig trenches and used as human shields.
