Bundalo et al: First Instance Verdict Revised

Ratko Bundalo, former Commander of Kalinovik Tactical Group, is sentenced to 22 years in prison, while Nedjo Zeljalja, Commander of the Police Station with the Public Safety Station in that town, is sentenced to 15 years in prison for having ordered and committed the persecution of Bosniaks from that area from May 1992 to March 1993.

As per the decision rendered by the Appellate Chamber, the part of the first instance verdict under which Djordjislav Askraba was acquitted of charges is revoked and a retrial ordered.

Under the first instance verdict, Askraba was acquitted of the charges that he committed crimes, including the murder of detainees, among others, in the Barutni magacin (Gunpowder Depot) detention camp from July to August 1992.

Under the first instance verdict pronounced by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in late December 2009, Bundalo was sentenced to 19 and Zeljaja to 15 years in prison.

Following the pronouncement of the first instance verdict, the Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Defence of Bundalo and Zeljaja filed appeals. The Appellate Chamber partially upheld the appeals and rendered the second instance verdict on March 18, 2011.

Under the second instance verdict, Bundalo and Zeljalja are jointly sentenced for the capture of about 500 civilians from the Jelec area, Foca municipality, and Gacko.

They are sentenced for detaining the men in the Miladin Radojevic school building in Kalinovik for a certain period of time, and using a few men as drivers of mine-clearance vehicles, thus exposing them to life-threatening situations and mental suffering.

They are sentenced, under the second instance verdict, for setting Bosniak villages in Kalinovik area on fire and exchanging women who were detained in the Miladin Radojevic school building for dead Serb soldiers in the Jakomislje area.

“They organised the exchange in such manner that the women had to evacuate the dead Serb soldiers from the front line, exposing themselves to deadly danger, and carry them to the exchange location. After that, they were allowed to take their children and go to the territories controlled by the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the Appellate Chamber said in the verdict.

Zeljaja is sentenced for having participated, from June to September 1992 or later, in the establishment and operation of a prison in the Miladin Radojevic school building, where about 300 civilians were held and subjected to rape, murder, inhumane treatment and various types of physical and mental abuse and humiliation.

The Appellate Chamber determined that Zeljaja was a superior officer to guards who worked in the school building prison in Kalinovik, and he was “familiar with the crimes in which his subordinate soldiers and other persons participated”.

The second instance verdict says that in July and August 1992, Bundalo actively participated in the establishment and functioning of the Barutni magacin detention camp in Kalinovik, where Bosniak male civilians were detained.

The verdict further says that on August 5, 1992, groups of male detainees were taken from the detention camp and killed at various locations, including Ratina, where 24 of them were burnt and only one detainee survived.

“On that day, in the afternoon hours, Pero Elez’ soldiers took the remaining detainees away. They tied their hands with wire, loaded them onto three trucks, escorted by a police vehicle with a rotating light, and took them to Ratina, Foca municipality, where they took 24 prisoners from the last truck, shot them, poured gasoline over them and set them on fire,” the verdict says.

As per the Appellate Chamber’s decision, Bundalo is acquitted, among other things, of the charges that he participated in the establishment and operation of the Miladin Radojevic school building prison in Kalinovik, while Zeljaja is acquitted of the charges that he participated in the establishment and operation of the Barutni magacin detention camp.

Zeljaja is acquitted of the charges that he took away two men from the detention camp and killed them on August 5, 1992, while the two indictees are acquitted of the charges for the murder of civilians in August 1992, which was committed by unidentified members of “the Serb armed forces”, and taking away a group of women from the school building in Kalinovik to Pavlovac farm, where they were raped.

Bundalo and Zeljaja are sentenced for crimes against humanity under the second instance verdict.