Bosnian Army Ex-Military Policemen Jailed for Abusing Croats

The appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court in Sarajevo on Friday upheld the verdict sentencing ex-soldiers Minet Akeljic, Saban Haskic, Senad Bilal and Hazim Patkovic to a total of 27 years in prison for crimes against civilians in the village of Kruscica in 1993.

The first-instance verdict in October 2018 sentenced Akeljic and Haskic to seven years each, Bilal to eight years and Petkovic to five years in prison for the physical, psychological and sexual abuse of Croat civilians at a detention facility in the village of Krusica known as Crna Kuca, or the Black House.

Akeljic was found guilty in his capacity as former commander of the military police of the Bosnian Army's First Battalion with the 325th Mountain Brigade and the other defendants as Bosnian Army military policemen.

"This was not an isolated case of abuse, but a systematic one, as is confirmed by the number of criminal acts," said presiding judge Davorin Jukic while delivering last year's first-instance verdict.