Stanisic-Zupljanin Verdict Due
Two men held senior positions in Bosnian Serb police force, which prosecutors say was instrumental in crimes committed during conflict.
Stanisic-Zupljanin Verdict Due
Two men held senior positions in Bosnian Serb police force, which prosecutors say was instrumental in crimes committed during conflict.
The judgement against two senior Bosnian Serb police officials will be delivered next week at the Hague tribunal.
Mico Stanisic, wartime head of the interior ministry in Bosnia’s Republika Srpska, and Stojan Zupljanin, former chief of the regional security services centre, or CSB, in Banja Luka, are accused of being part of a joint criminal enterprise with other high-ranking Serb officials to “permanently remove Bosnian Muslims, Bosnian Croats, and other non-Serbs from the territory of the planned Serbian state”.
Both men are charged with ten counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including persecution, extermination, murder, torture, cruel treatment, inhumane acts and deportation, in relation to several municipalities and detention facilities in Bosnia.
They are charged both with individual and superior responsibility, since prosecutors allege they failed to take measures to prevent or punish the crimes charged in the indictment.
Stanisic surrendered to the tribunal in 2005 while Zupljanin was arrested in Serbia in 2008. Their joint trial started in September 2009 and closing arguments in the case were held at the end of May 2012. (See Closing Arguments in Stanisic, Zupljanin Case for more.)
In his closing arguments, prosecutor Alex Demirjan said the Bosnian Serb police was instrumental in carrying out criminal acts that occurred “following a systematic pattern”.
The judgement will be delivered in open court on March 27.
Rachel Irwin is IWPR’s Senior Reporter in The Hague.
