Atif Dudakovic, the former commander of the Bosnian Army’s Fifth Corps, went on trial in Sarajevo alongside 16 of his soldiers for wartime crimes including over 300 killings and the destruction of Serb Orthodox churches.
Bosnian courts have allowed five war crimes convicts to avoid serving their prison sentences by paying a fine, BIRN has found - a practice which critics claim makes a mockery of justice.
The state prosecution has called for the repeal of the Dzevad Dulic verdict, which acquitted him of committing wartime rape in the Cazin area in December 1993. The defense objected to the proposal.
Former fighter Hasib Cehic was sentenced to four years in prison for committing crimes against captured Bosnian Army soldiers in the Cazin and Velika Kladusa areas during wartime.
Closing statements were presented at today’s hearing of the Hasib Cehic trial. The cantonal prosecution of Bihac has called for a guilty verdict, while the defense has requested an acquittal. Cehic, a former member of the National Defense of the Western Bosnia Autonomous Region, has been charged with war crimes in the Cazin and Velika Kladusa area.
Following the signing of a guilty-plea agreement, the Cantonal Court in Bihac sentenced Safet Kovacevic to one year in prison for mistreating prisoners of war in 1995.
The trial of Hasib Cehic has been postponed due to a request from the defense to refer the case from the cantonal court of Bihac to another or court or, alternatively, to replace members of the trial chamber.