Indictment against Four Croatian Defense Council Members Filed

The suspects, four former members of the Croatian Defense Council, have been charged with the arrest, physical abuse and metnal abuse of civilians, including women, children and a few men who were detained in the Branko Sotra school building in Crnici and then transferred to detention facilities in Djulici and Kaplan Mahala.

Mile Pazin and Mirko Raguz, according to the state prosecution’s charges, were the command staff with the civil protection unit in Stolac, managed detention facilities and were responsible for the conditions in which the prisoners were held.

The indictment alleges that the detainees were tortured, beaten and abused in humiliating ways.

After having been held in Djulici, Kaplan Mahala and other facilities in Stolac, where they were robbed, the detainees were transferred by trucks to the Blagaj area in the municipality of Mostar.

The indictment has been filed with the Bosnian state court for confirmation.