TRIAL OF SERBIAN WAR CRIMINALS GOJKO KLICKOVIC,JOVAN OSTOJIC AND MLADEN DRLJACA TO CONTINUE ON JULY 8

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (July 2,2008) – A Prosecution witness testified yesterday before the Bosnian State Court about his detention by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor in the Bosnain town of Bosanska Krupa in 1992,during the Serbian aggression against Bosnia, claiming this was "the worst period" in his life.

Prosecution witness Emir Hasic said that, on April 25, 1992 he and his stepmother had to leave their apartment in Bosanska Krupa. After that they were separated. He was detained in the school building in Jasenica and his stepmother was forced by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor to leave the town.

"When they brought us to the school in Jasenica,I was examined, before an improvised "court", by a person known as Mladjo. I suppose his name was Mladen. He asked me about some objects, which were laid down on the table. He said they were called 'Serb-cutters', adding that the Bosnian Patriotic League members wanted to use them to kill Serbians living in Bosnia," Hasic said.

The Bosnian State Prosecutor charges Serbian war criminals Gojko Klickovic, Jovan Ostojic and Mladen Drljaca with crimes committed in Bosanska Krupa area in the course of 1991 and 1992,during the Serbian aggression against Bosnia. The indictment against Serbian war criminals Klickovic and Drljaca states that they illegally detained and "tried" Bosnian civilians. The third Serbian war criminal was allegedly a presiding judge with this court.

"You do look like that person," Hasic said, addressing Mladen Drljaca in the courtroom. Later on he said that he was the person who interrigated him in Jasenica.

This witness said that he suffered "the most traumatic experiences" when he was detained by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor in a concentration camp in Bosanska Krupa, in which the detained Bosnian civilians were "categorised" and tortured on a daily basis.

"I think that the detained Bosnian civilians were categorised in some way, because members of the Bosnian Patriotic League and politically active detainees or members of the Party for Democratic Action, SDA, were taken out and mistreated more often than the other detainees," Hasic said, adding that he was tortured by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor's soldiers three times.

"This was the worst period in my life and I want to forget it," Hasic said.

Hasic and other detained Bosnian civilians were taken out to perform forced labour. One of the locations to which they were taken was the court building in Bosanska Krupa, where he saw Serbian war criminal Miroslav Vjestica. The witness said that Vjestica told him that he would be exchanged in "about ten days," which proved to be true.

Available data suggest that the Bosnian State Prosecutor is conducting an investigation against Serbian war criminal Miroslav Vjestica, due to a suspicion that he participated in war crimes committed by the genocidal Serbian fascist aggressor in the Bosanska Krupa area.

The trial of Serbian war criminals Gojko Klickovic, Jovan Ostojic and Mladen Drljaca is due to continue before the Bosnian State Court on July 8, 2008.
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DEVELOPING A STATE STRATEGY FOR PROCESSING OF WAR CRIMES IS A PRIORITY

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (February 28,2008) – Development of state strategy for processing cases of war crimes and development of a catalogue of all war crimes in Bosnia are the priorities that will help a faster processing of war crimes in Bosnia, participants of the conference of chief prosecutors and prosecutors in charge of cases of war crimes stated in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo.

The Bosnian Deputy Chief Prosecutor and Prosecutor of the Special Department of War Crimes Milorad Barasin expects that Bosnia should soon get a state strategy for processing the war crimes.

Draft of the strategy should be submitted to the Bosnian Council of Ministers for adoption in the first half of 2008, Barasin hopes.

This document, partially developed by the Bosnian State Prosecutor’s Office, will define models for an accelerated and more efficient solving of the cases. It will also determine priorities for the cases that are yet to be solved.

”That is a very important issue, for solving of those cases and of all the issues that are related to war crimes greatly influences co-existence and creation of a legal state”, Barasin is of the opinion.

He emphasized the importance of war crimes’ catalogue, which should contain a list that will serve as a base for development of state strategy and solving of all cases of war crimes.

Barasin could not give any concrete details to the press about the number of war crimes cases in Bosnia, keepinh in mind the fact that the figures vary daily. An inventory of all the cases should be made and then decide on the priorities, he added.

Also, there are war crimes that have not yet been discovered and reported. Some of them are discovered and reported on the daily basis through the law implementation agencies.

Barasin named another problem in the process of solving the cases – the lack of material evidence. It is hard to obtain them, so investigations and all other procedures are conducted on the basis of witnesses’ statements.

It is unknown how many indictments are to be raised this year at the Bosnian State Prosecutor’s Office. Barasin stated that all the cases “are enormous” and that he would be satisfied if “every prosecutor rose an indictment per a year”.

The Bosnian State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) Deputy Head Miroslav Pejcinovic stated that the agency has been executing per 580 orders annually. 25 persons have been arrested, mainly on the basis of the state Prosecutor’s Office. In January, four persons were arrested.

Pejcinovic emphasized that a difficulty is that the witnesses are scattered throughout Bosnia or in the foreign countries.

Also, some of the archives were eliminated and that resulted in unavailability of some data on possible war crimes perpetrators.
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