Samardzic Trial Reopens

The trial of Nedjo Samardzic, who is accused of war crimes committed in Foca, has been opened to the public again more than a month after it was closed on the wishes of the prosecutor.

The judicial council of the Bosnian war crimes chamber overturned the prosecutor’s February 20 decision to exclude the public from the trial “to protect the privacy and personality of witnesses”, as reported in Justice Report on March 7. The decision was met with strong criticism from legal experts, analysts and victims’ representatives alike.

Samardzic has been indicted in connection with crimes against humanity that were committed in the Foca area during 1992. The allegations include a charge that, in August 1992, Samardzic and others took part in the physical harassment and beating of imprisoned Bosniak civilians from the area of Miljevina. The prisoners were later executed.

The defendant is also accused of raping Bosniak women, many of whom were patients at Foca’s hospital. The indictment also claims that Samardzic held a number of Bosniak women – some of them underage – in sexual enslavement in Miljevina.

The Bosnian court is yet to make a decision on whether to reopen the trial of Radomir Stankovic to the public. Stankovic was the first indictee to be transferred to the new war crimes chamber from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague.