Bosnian Court: 60 Serbs Acquitted of Wartime Crimes
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The Bosnian state court said on Tuesday that since it was set up, it has acquitted 60 Bosnian Serbs of war crimes or genocide – an attempt to counter allegations of bias from Serbs over the acquittal of Naser Oric earlier this month.
Of the 60, more than 50 are former members of the Bosnian Serb Army or Interior Ministry forces in the country’s Republika Srpska entity, while the others are former civilian officials, paramilitary leaders or detention camp guards.
The state court also said it had handed down a series of acquittals in in cases related to genocide and war crimes in Srebrenica.
It said named the acquitted defendants as Milos Stupar, Aleksandar Cvetkovic, Momir Pelemis, Zdravko Bozic, Zeljko Zaric, Zoran Zivanovic, Dragan Neskovic, Zoran Ilic, Miladin Stevanovic, Zoran Tomic, Nedjo Ikonic, Milovan Matic, Dragisa Zivanovic and Velibor Maksimovic.
The court has also acquitted high-ranking Bosnian Serb civil and police officials Goran Saric, Momcilo Mandic and Gojko Klickovic.
The first-instance verdict acquitting Naser Oric, who was charged with war crimes in Srebrenica and Bratunac in 1992, provoked harsh reactions from political leaders in Republika Srpska and Serbia.
Republika Srpska President, Milorad Dodik accused the court of being biased because the judge in the Oric trial was a Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim).
“It’s enough for a Muslim to judge a Muslim and you will be acquitted,” Dodik said.
He also threatened to revive the idea of a referendum that will question the legitimacy of the state-level court and prosecution.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said the verdict was proof that Serbs’ lives were not considered to be “worth as much as other lives”.
But the president of the state court, Ranko Debevec, denied any institutional bias.
“The court of Bosnia and Herzegovina works professionally in accordance with evidence provided by the prosecution and not on the grounds of political and media speculation and pressures,” Debevec told BIRN.
The state court was set up in 2003 and handed down its first war crimes verdict in 2007.
