Bosnia Appeals Court Confirms Kladanj Acquittal

The Appeals Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has confirmed a first-instance verdict, acquitting seven persons of charges for war crimes in the Kladanj area between May 1992 and July 1993.

Safet Mujcinovic, Selman Busnov, Nusret Muhic, Zijad Hamzic, Ramiz Halilovic, Nedzad Hodzic and Osman Gogic were all acquitted.

The Appeals Chamber rejected the prosecution's appeal as unfounded, confirming the verdict of release pronounced on September 8, 2017.

Mujcinovic and others stood trial for the unlawful detention of Serbian civilians in Stupari, near Kladanj, as well as beating and inhumane treatment of those civilians.

The explanation of the first-instance verdict said the defendants' guilt had not been proved, as only one witness had been examined about some of the counts, while testimonies given by witnesses concerning the other counts were contradictory and unclear.

The indictment named Mujcinovic as the commander of the Police Station in Stupari, Busnov as the chief of the Public Safety Station in Kladanj, Hamzic as commander of the Territorial Defence Company in Stupari, and later commander of the Territorial Defence Battalion in Stupari. Halilovic was named as an active police officer at the Police Station and as commander of the Military Police in Stupari.

According to the charges, Hodzic was a reserve policeman, Gogic a military policeman and Muhic was chief of the Group for Preventing and Combating Crime at the Public Safety Station.

In the opinion of the first-instance Chamber, the Prosecution had not proved that Mujcinovic had issued any orders concerning the status of the civilians, or that he knew or could have known of the unlawful examinations conducted by his subordinates.

The first instance...

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