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Drljača: Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Mladen Drljača
Indictment, 19 Mar 2008, Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Preliminary Hearing Judge, Bosnia and Herzegovina
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.
Bagaragaza: Public Prosecutor v. Michel Bagaragaza
Request for surrender, 21 Mar 2008, District Court of The Hague, The Netherlands
Until July 1994, Michel Bagaragaza was the managing director of OCIR-Tea, the controlling body for the tea industry in Rwanda. Bagaragaza is accused of conspiring with his employees in order to kill Tutsis in the Gisenyi Prefecture. In addition, he was a member of the local committee of the Republican Movement for Development and Democracy (MRND) for the Gisenyi Prefecture. Bagaragaza was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on charges of genocide, and in the alternative, war crimes. His case was referred to The Netherlands at the request of the Prosecutor of the ICTR.
However, a decision of the District Court of The Hague in a case against another Rwandan national, Joseph Mpambara, in which the Court held that the Dutch courts have no jurisdiction over genocide committed by non-Dutch nationals abroad prior to 2003, was released soon after Bagaragaza's surrender to The Netherlands. Fearing that the outcome would be the same and the case against him would not proceed in The Netherlands, the ICTR requested The Netherlands to surrender Bagaragaza back to the ICTR for prosecution. By a decision of 21 March 2008, the District Court of The Hague authorised the surrender.
Tanasković: Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Nenad Tanasković
Verdict, 26 Mar 2008, Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Section I for War Crimes, Panel of the Appellate Division, Bosnia and Herzegovina
During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nenand Tanasković was a reserve police officer in Višegrad, where Serbs were conducting a widespread and systematic attack against the Muslim citizens of this municipality. The Trial Panel at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced him to twelve years of imprisonment for his role in this attack. Tanasković brought forward several grounds for appeal, for example stating that his sentence was solely based on testimonies of (unreliable) witnesses. Also, he argued that the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina should not be applied to him, as this Code did not exist in 1992, when the attack took place. The Appellate Panel stated that the Trial Panel had been accurate in assessing the evidence and establishing the facts. Also, it stated that the Criminal Code could be applied, as international law, which was applicable in 1992, also prohibits crimes against humanity.
The Trial Panel had blamed Tanasković for not showing remorse during the trial. The Appellate Panel considered this to be unfair. Showing remorse could be seen as a plea of guilt, the Appellate Panel reasoned, and nobody is obliged to plead guilty. The sentence was modified to eight years of imprisonment.
Bjelić: Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Veiz Bjelić
Verdict, 28 Mar 2008, Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Veiz Bjelić was born on 12 September 1949 in Vlasenica. In the period from June 1992 to 26 January 1993, he was a prison guard in the “Štala” prison where Serb civilians and members of the armed forces who no longer participated in the fighting, were detained. During that time, Bjelić repeatedly raped one female person and threatened to kill her if she would tell it to someone. He also led soldiers of the Territorial Defence of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina to enter the prison, where they subsequently abused Serb civilians both physically and mentally.
Bjelić was found guilty on 28 March 2003 and was sentenced to six years imprisonment.
Haradinaj et al.: The Prosecutor v. Ramush Haradinaj, Idriz Balaj, and Lahi Brahimaj (TC)
Judgment (Public), 3 Apr 2008, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Trial Chamber I, The Netherlands
Between March and September 1998, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) was attacking the Dukagjin area in order to assert its control over that territory. All three accused held positions within the KLA.
The charges comprised of crimes against humanity and war crimes, but Trial Chamber I held that the necessary contextual elements of the former had not been satisfied. Therefore, it dismissed all counts of crimes against humanity. It did further determine that war crimes had been committed by the KLA forces, but only found sufficient evidence for some of the allegations. Accordingly, it limited the counts for which responsibility could be attributed.
There was lack of evidence to prove the existence of a common purpose to remove the Serbian, Kosovar Roma/Egyptian and Kosovar Albanian civilians from the Dukagjin area, and, therefore, the three accused could not be held guilty for participating in a joint criminal enterprise.
The Chamber found only Brahimaj guilty of torture and cruel treatment and sentenced him to 6 years of imprisonment.
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