Sanski Most suspect released

The Bosnian state court has quashed its decision of five days ago to keep war crimes suspect Jadranko Palija detained for one month during the investigation, and has ordered he be released.

In a decision made on Thursday but revealed to public on Friday, the court upheld the appeal filed by the defence after Palija was first placed in custody on October 27.

Palija is suspected of war crimes committed on the territory of Sanski Most. The court has decided that Palija can be released while the prosecution conducts its investigation against the Bosnian Serb. The court has however forbidden Palija from leaving his place of living during the investigation.

In its press release, the court explained that “the existence of an abstract possibility of interference with the course of criminal proceedings” cannot be accepted as the basis for ordering the detention.

The appeals panel also found that in making the first instance decision on custody, the first instance panel “did not determine the specific circumstances which justified an order of custody”.

Prosecutors believe that Palija, a former military police officer, took part in attacks on villages Kljevci, Vrhpolje and Hrustovo, and was involved in the daily abuse and torture of Bosniak civilians from the listed villages.

As Justice Report has discovered, an investigation and wanted notice has been in circulation for Palija in Croatia in connection with crimes committed in what was once Republika Srpska Krajina in 1991. The local prosecution is conducting a separate investigation.

Justice Report can also reveal that the name of indictee Palija appears in the indictment of Radoslav Brdžanin, who was sentenced before the Hague tribunal to 32 years imprisonment for crimes committed on the territory of 13 municipalities in Bosanska Krajina, including Sanski Most.

In the Brdzanin verdict it is stated that on May 31, 1992, Bosnian Serbs entered the village of Begici, and that Palija was among them. It is further stated that the soldiers gathered the locals, separated the men from the women and took men between 20 and 30 years of age towards the bridge in Vrhpolje, where they were loaded onto buses.

As is written in Brdzanin’s verdict, on the way to the bridge Palija killed four detainees, while the others were ordered to take their clothes off and line up, then to jump from the bridge into the Sana river. At least 28 persons were killed at the time. The Bosnian prosecution claims that the Palija mentioned in this indictment is the same individual detained by the court today.

The court believes that, based on prosecution statements, there are grounds for suspicion that Palija has committed a crime against humanity.