Defendant Had No Command Responsibility, Expert Claims

“Soldiers are those who in the chain of command have no right to command or issue orders. A soldier can be assigned with a task, but he is not responsible for anything while on assignment unless he personally takes a rifle and kills someone,” explained Dzanbasovic.

The expert explained that, according to the records he used to make a report and give his professional opinion, soldiers of the Croatian Defence Council in Trusina were captured legitimately, but when they were executed “all legitimacy perished”.

He explained that the commanding officer whose soldiers committed the crime was responsible for the death of prisoners.

“That’s the first and highest degree of responsibility and it’s always with the commander who issues the order. Also, the commander can assign someone from the command to take care of prisoners, but it is always the commander who would be responsible for their fate,” said Dzambasovic.

Hakalovic, former soldier of the 45th Brigade of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was charged with being in Trusina on April 16, 1993, when the crime was committed, as well as that he ordered Ivan Drlja, a man whom he knew from his childhood, to bring in some Croat people who were later executed.

For the crime in Trusina, when 18 civilians and four imprisoned soldiers of the Croatian Defence Army were killed, beside Hakalovic, the prosecution charged Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin, Nedzad Hodzic, Nihad Bojadzic and Zulfikar Alispago, former members of Zulfikar unit.

During cross-examination, the prosecutor, Vesna Budimir, said that the expert used military records which previously used to prove there was an armed conflict, but which otherwise had nothing to do with the crime committed on April 16, 1993.

“The rules of war are determined by international humanitarian law and I don’t see how a military expert can make conclusions about criminal responsibility of defendant Hakalovic,” said Budimir.

She added that she has no intention of asking questions about command responsibility from “someone who is a member of the presidency of the party headed by Sefer Halilovic”.

Sefer Halilovic is former chief of staff of the High Command of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Hague court acquitted him of charges for crimes committed in Grabovica near Mostar and Uzdol near Prozor.

The trial is set to resume on October 28.