The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in numbers

At the same time, 49 defendants were freed of a charge, which means every fourth person was acquitted.

Sentences 1881

The Bosnian court handed down sentences amounting to 1881 years in prison for war crimes.

Convicts 140

By final verdicts, 140 defendants were found guilty. An additional 13 persons have been sentenced under first instance verdicts.

Acquitted 49

By final verdicts, 49 defendants were acquitted.

Agreements 27

A total of 27 defendants signed plea agreements with the Bosnian prosecution, and were subsequently sentenced to 229.5 years in prison.

Firstverdict: 2005

The initial first instance verdict for war crimes is handed down in July 2005, when Abduladhim Maktouf is found guilty and sentenced for committing war crimes in Travnik.

The maximum sentence: 42 years

Veselin Vlahovic, known as Batko, is sentenced to 42 years in prison for war crimes committed in the Sarajevo settlements of Grbavica, Vraca and Kovacici. Vlahovic is found guilty of approximately 60 counts of murder, abuse, rape, enforced disappearances, detainment, physical and mental torture, and theft, committed over the course of three months in 1992.

Theminimum sentence: 1,5 years

Drazen Mikulic is sentenced to a year and a half in prison for war crimes committed in Capljina. He was found guilty of the physical abuse of a prisoner in 1993 at the Dretelj detention camp near Capljina.

Witnesses: 6981

6981 witnesses were interrogated at war crimes trials. 1110 of them testified under protective measures.

Detention 105.850

During the investigation and trial phase, suspects and defendants spent 105.850 days or 290 years in detention. This data applies to time spent in detention prior to being sent to serve sentences.

Escapes:7

Over the ten year span of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, six persons convicted of war crimes escaped and one defendant disappeared after an indictment was raised against him.

The first convict to escape was Radovan Stankovic. He escaped while serving his prison sentence at the Foca Correctional Facility in 2007. Five years later, he was arrested again in Foca.

The five other fugitives are still at large.

Mirko Todorovic escaped in the spring of 2009. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison for his participation in war crimes committed in Bratunac. He was released when the legal period of his custody expired.

Momir Savic escaped in May 2010. He was convicted of crimes against humanity in Visegrad. Velibor Bogdanovic, sentenced for war crimes in Mostar, escaped in the beginning of September 2011.

Bosko Lukic escaped in December 2013. He was found guilty of war crimes committed in Kljuc.

In the spring of 2014, Novak Djukic escaped to Serbia after being released from his sentence for war crimes committed in Tuzla.

Milos Zekic, charged with war crimes committed in Sekovici, didn’t appear at a hearing in September 2014, after his indictment was confirmed.

Unavailable:29

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed indictments against 29 persons who are unavailable to judicial authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A small number of these cases were transferred to the judicial authorities of neighbouring countries.

Women: 4

Four women were prosecuted for war crimes. Two of them were sentenced under second instance verdicts, while proceedings against two women are at the appeals stage.

After pleading guilty, Rasema Handanovic was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for participating in the shooting of six Croats in the village of Trusina, near Konjic, in April 1993.

Albina Terzic was found guilty of beating detainees in Odzak with a bat, slapping them and inciting a dog to attack them. She was also found guilty of torturing, humiliating and abusing detainees in various ways. She was sentenced to three years in prison.

Marina Grubisic-Fejzic was sentenced to five years in prison under a first instance verdict for war crimes committed in the Dretelj detention camp near Capljina.

The first instance trial chamber sentenced Indira Kameric to three years in prison for the mental and physical abuse of civilians in Bosanski Brod.

Thelongest trials: 7

Proceedings against Musajb Kukavica, charged with war crimes committed in Bugojno, lasted seven years. His trial began in February 2008, and the verdict of the third instance trial chamber was handed down in January 2015.

He was on trial with Nisvet Gasal and Senad Dautovic. The first instance proceedings conducted against them were the longest, lasting three years and nine months. The verdict of the Appellate Chamber was handed down in December 2013, taking into account that Kukavica had the right to file an appeal to the third instance trial chamber.

Taking into account the appeal proceedings, the trial of Mehura Selimovic, Adil Ruznic and Emir Mustafic for war crimes committed in Krajina was the longest. It ended in the seventh year of the trial. The process began in August 2008, and the final verdict was brought down in March 2015.

The trial of Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin, Senad Hakalovic, Nedzad Hodzic and Nihad Bojadzic for crimes committed in Trusina near Konjic is close to breaking the record for trial length. The first instance proceedings began in September 2010 and closing arguments are still not completed.

Deceased:9

Trials were suspended against nine persons due to their deaths.

Zoran Marinic, who was on trial for war crimes committed in Busovaca, died in October 2013. Six days earlier, he testified in his own defense and accused defendant Zoran Milic, whom the court later sentenced to seven years in prison.

Miralem Macic, who was on trial for war crimes committed in Konjic, died in January 2012. The day after his death the plea agreement that he made with the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina was supposed to be taken into consideration.

Nedjeljko Kuljic, who was on trial for war crimes committed in Bileca, died four months after the start of his trial.

Besim Muderizovic, who was on trial for war crimes committed in Sarajevo, also died a few months after the start of his trial.

Rade Skoric, who was on trial for war crimes committed in Kotor Varos, also did not live to see his verdict.

Rasim Lisancic died after a first instance verdict which sentenced him to nine and a half years in prison for his involvement in the attack on the village of Serdari, near Kotor Varos.

Milko Mucibabic died after a first instance verdict against him was handed down in March 2009, which sentenced him to five years and three months in prison for war crimes committed in Nevesinje.

Faruk Prcic, who pleaded not guilty of war crimes committed in Tuzla, died before the start of the trial in 2009.

Aziz Aganovic, suspected of crimes committed in Rogatica, died before his indictment was confirmed.

Illnesses:7

Trial proceedings were separated in the cases of seven defendants who are unable to participate in the court proceedings due to their poor health.

The proceedings against Veljko Basic, charged of war crimes committed in Vlasenica, were separated in July 2008.

The proceedings against Vinko Kondic, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, were separated in September 2010. Kondic was accused of war crimes committed in Kljuc.

The proceedings against Goran Markovic, charged of war crimes committed in Kotor Varos, were interrupted in March 2011.

In March 2014, the trial of Zulfikar Alispago, charged with war crimes committed in the village of Trusina, near Konjic, was temporarily suspended. Two months later, the proceedings against Jovan Popovic, charged of war crimes committed in Visegrad, are also temporarily suspended.

The proceedings against Radivoje Djordjic, charged of war crimes committed in Zvornik are separated in January 2015, and the proceedings against Marinko Bjelica, charged with war crimes committed in Kalinovik, are also temporarily suspended in March 2015.