Bosnian Army Ex-Commander Jailed over Killings of Serb Prisoners

The appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court on Thursday sentenced the former commander of the Third Corps of the Bosnian Army, Sakib Mahmuljin to a combined sentence of eight years for war crimes in the Vozuca and Zavidovici areas in 1995.

The court found that, in his capacity as commander of the Third Corps and superior officer to the El Mujahideen unit of Middle Eastern volunteer fighters, Mahmuljin failed to prevent the murders and inhumane treatment of prisoners of war, medical staff and civilians.

The court also found that Mahmuljin knew or had the reason to know that members of the El Mujahideen unit were preparing to commit the crimes.

Mahmuljin was given one year in prison for committing a war crime against the civilian population, one-and-a-half years for a war crime against the wounded and sick and six-and-a-half years for war crime against prisoners of war. The judges decided on a combined sentence of eight years.

According to the charges, members of the El Mujahideen unit, a detachment of fighters from Middle Eastern countries, killed at least 55 captured Bosnian Serb Army soldiers in the period from July to September 1995 and cut some of their heads off.

The El Mujahideen unit operated as part of the Bosnian Army's Third Corps, but Mahmuljin argued during the trial that he was not responsible for the crimes committed by the foreign fighters.

The trial started in March 2016 and Mahmuljin was initially found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison in January 2021.

In September 2021, Mahmuljin's appeal was upheld and the first-instance judgment was quashed. A retrial then began in November last year.

Thursday's verdict is final and cannot be appealed.