Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Mladen Drljača

Court	Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Preliminary Hearing Judge, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Case number	KT-RZ-22/08
Decision title	Indictment
Decision date	19 March 2008
Parties	Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mladen Drljača
Categories	Crimes against humanity, Torture, War crimes
Keywords	Bosanska Krupa; crimes against humanity; forced labour; forcible transfer; illegal detention; inhumane acts; murder; pillaging; sexual violence; rape; torture; unfair trial; war crimes against civilians; war crimes against prisoners of war
Links	Indictment

Summary

Mladen Drljača was born on 5 March 1958 in Bosanska Krupa in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995), he was a key official and held several offices in the municipality of Bosanska Krupa. Drljača was suspected of having committed crimes against humanity, war crimes against civilians, and war crimes against prisoners of war in the period between the beginning of April 1992 and 31 December 1992. In particular, Drljača was charged with participating in the detention of Bosnian Muslims in the Jasenica primary school and the Petar Kočić school, and in questioning the Jasenica detainees in the Provisional Military Court.

On 19 March 2008, the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued an indictment.

On 7 May 2013, Drljača was acquitted by the Appeals Division of Section I for War Crimes of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina because it had not been proven that he committed the alleged crimes.

Procedural history

On 4 March 2008, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Court of BiH) issued a decision ordering the custody of Mladen Drljača.

Related developments

On 21 March 2008, the Court of BiH confirmed the indictment.

At a plea hearing held on 1 April 2008, the accused pleaded not guilty.

On 23 April 2008, the Court of BiH issued a decision on joining the cases of Gojko Kličković (X-KR-06/213) and Mladen Drljača (X-KR-08/503). From that date, the case was processed under the case of Gojko Kličković et al. (X-KR-06/213). The trial began on 8 May 2008.

On 19 August 2008, the Court of BiH issued a decision in the Gojko Kličkovićcase, granting the defence’s motion (termination of the obligation of Drljača to report twice a day to the police station of Banja Luka, and the prohibition of contacting witnesses) and accepting the offered bail in the amount of BAM 165,000.00. Therefore, the Court terminated the custody of Drljača and imposed on him the prohibitive measures.

On 5 November 2010, both Drljača and Kličković were acquitted because, according to the Trial Chamber, the Prosecutor’s Office had failed to establish the existence of a widespread or systematic attack against non-Serb civilians in the municipality of Bosanska Krupa. Other reasons for the acquittal included the growing number of witnesses who had died, moved abroad or who were reluctant to testify, as well as the vague statements of the witnesses who testified.

On 7 May 2013, the Appeals Division of Section I for War Crimes of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina acquitted Drljača, together with Kličković, because it had not been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that they had committed the offences charged.

Legally relevant facts

According to the indictment, between the beginning of April 1992 and 31 December 1992, there was a widespread or systematic attack of the SDS (Srpska Demokratska Stranka – the Serb Democratic Party) paramilitary units and the Army of the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina directed against the non-Serb civilian population of the Autonomous Region of Krajina with the purpose of permanently removing them (pp. 1-2).

The accused, Drljača, held several positions: he was member of the Bosanska Krupa SDS Municipal Board, member of the Crisis Staff of the Serb Municipality of Bosanska Krupa, member of the War Presidency of the Serb Municipality of Bosanska Krupa, President of the Provisional Military Court of the Serb Municipality of Bosanska Krupa, President of the Commission for Exchange of Prisoners of the Serb Municipality of Bosanska Krupa, and member of the SDS Secretariat of the Serb Municipality of Bosanska Krupa (p. 1).

The Prosecutor’s Office entered two counts against Drljača and proposed to the Hearing Judge that Drljača was to be found to have knowingly participated in a joint criminal enterprise with the purpose of partitioning the legally established municipality of Bosanska Krupa by creating, through the use of military force, the so-called Serb Municipality of Bosanska Krupa as an area populated by an absolute Serb majority (pp. 1-2).

According to the indictment, between 21 April and 4 May 1992, at least 50 Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks), including both civilians and combatants, were detained for some time in the primary school in Jasenica where they were living in unhygienic conditions and where they received inadequate food. During their detention, a certain number of those captive were allegedly beaten on several occasions by various groups of Serb soldiers. Additionally, the detainees appeared before the Provisional Military Court where Drljača acted as the Presiding Judge, and where they were questioned without being informed of the reasons for their detention (pp. 2, 25-28).

The indictment further alleged that from 1 May 1992 until 21 August 1992, at least 79 persons, including both combatants and civilians, were detained at the Petar Kočić school where they were living in unhygienic conditions. The detainees were regularly forced to perform forced labour and were intentionally exposed to life-threatening conditions. The indictment also alleged that a number of detained persons was frequently brutally beaten by Serb soldiers, and as a result, some detainees died (pp. 3-5, 28-31).

Drljača was charged with crimes against humanity (murder, forcible transfer of population, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape, and other inhumane acts), war crimes against civilians (torture, dislocation or displacement, unlawful bringing in concentration camps and other illegal arrests and detention, deprivation of rights to a fair and impartial trial, forced labour, and pillaging), and war crimes against prisoners of war (murder, torture, and deprivation of rights to a fair and impartial trial).

Due to the realistic possibility of flight, and the fear that the accused may hinder the criminal proceedings by influencing witnesses, accomplices or accessories (p. 45), the Prosecutor’s Office said there were grounds for ordering custody under Article 132(1)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Code of BiH (p. 44).

Core legal questions

Can Drljača be charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes against civilians, and war crimes against prisoners of war?

Specific legal rules and provisions

Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2003:

Article 172 - Crimes against Humanity
Article 173 - War Crimes against Civilians
Article 175 - War Crimes against Prisoners of War

Article 180(1) - Individual Criminal Responsibility

Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2006:

Article 23(1)(a) and (2) - Material Jurisdiction of the Court
Article 35(2)(h) - Rights and Duties
Article 132 - Grounds for Pre-trial Custody
Article 137 - Custody after the Confirmation of the Indictment
Article 226(1) - Issuance of the indictment

Article 227(3) - Contents of the indictment

Further analysis

K. Krauthamer, V. Matan, and I. Caloianu, ‘Around the Bloc: War Wounds Reopened by Conviction in Russia, Acquittal in Bosnia’, Transitions Online, 2013.

Instruments cited

Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2003

Criminal Procedure Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2006

Related cases

Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prosecutor’s Office v Gojko Kličković, Mladen Drljača and Jovan Ostojić, Case No. X-KR-06/213, Verdict, 5 November 2010

Additional materials

‘Mladen Drljaca’, TRIAL.

‘Mladen Drljača ordered into custody’, Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, 5 March 2008.

‘Indictment in Mladen Drljača Case Confirmed’, Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, 21 March 2008.

‘A plea hearing in the Mladen Drljača case scheduled’, Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, 31 March 2008.

‘Mladen Drljača pleaded not guilty’, Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, 1 April 2008.

‘Serbian War Criminal Mladen Drljaca Pleads Not Guilty’, Bosnia News, 2 April 2008.

‘Trial Of Serbian War Criminals Gojko Klickovic,Jovan Ostojic and Mladen Drljaca Begins Before Bosnian State Court’, Bosnia News, 9 May 2008.

‘Bail granted to the Accused Mladen Drljača’, Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, 20 August 2008.

‘Klickovic et al: Verdict Due to be Pronounced on November 5’, Justice Report, 27 October 2010.

‘Serb trio beats war-crimes rap’, New York Post, 6 November 2010.

‘Klickovic et al: Bosanska Krupa Case Appealed’, Justice Report, 23 February 2012.

‘Dvojici Srba ukinute oslobađajuće presude za ratni zločin’, Blic Online, 12 May 2012.

‘Klickovic et al: Rerial Begins July 3’, Justice Report, 26 June 2012.

A. Sorguc, ‘Prosecutor Urges Punishment for Bosanska Krupa Expulsions’, Justice Report, 9 April 2013.

‘Sud BiH: Gojko Kličković i Mladen Drljača oslobođeni optužbi za ratni zločin’, Radio Slobodna Evropa, 7 May 2013.

‘Oslobođeni Gojko Kličković i Mladen Drljača’, Federalna.ba, 7 May 2013.

‘Oslobađajuća presuda Kličkoviću i Drljači’, Aljazeera Balkans, 7 May 2013.

‘Kličković i Drljača oslobođeni optužbi’, Aljazeera Balkans, 7 May 2013.

‘Ivan Pavković o oslobađanju Kličkovića i Drljače’, Aljazeera Balkans, 7 May 2013.

‘Murat Tahirović o oslobađanju Kličkovića i Drljače’, Aljazeera Balkans, 7 May 2013.

D. Dzidic,‘Bosnian Serb Ex-PM Acquitted of War Crimes’, Balkan Transitional Justice, 7 May 2013.

‘Gojko Kličković and Mladen Drljača acquitted under the final and binding Verdict’, Court of Bosnia & Herzegovina, 9 May 2013.