Delic Case Judges Hold Hearing in Sarajevo

Hague tribunal judges sitting in the case of the former Bosnian army chief Rasim Delić will hold an evidentiary hearing in Sarajevo this week. The three-day hearing, scheduled to take place at the Bosnian war crimes chamber, will start on September 7.



This will be the first hearing conducted by a tribunal trial chamber away from its seat in The Hague.



Ali Ahmed Ali Hamad, a Bahraini citizen and former member of the El Mujahid unit suspected of committing crimes against Serb and Croat civilians and soldiers in central Bosnia during in 1993, will appear as a witness at the session.



He is currently being held at Zenica prison in Bosnia, where he is serving a 12-year sentence for terrorism and robbery.



The indictment against Delić alleges he was responsible for planning and directing all Bosnian army operations and monitoring the activities of all subordinate officers and units, including foreign Muslim fighters referred to as Mujahedin.



According to the indictment, Delić failed to take necessary and reasonable measures to punish his subordinates who executed captured Bosnian Croat civilians and soldiers in the villages of Maline and Bikoši in the Travnik municipality of central Bosnia and Herzegovina in June 1993.



His trial started on July 9 this year.



In a statement issued on September 5, tribunal judges said the prosecution’s request to hear Ahmad’s testimony in Sarajevo was granted “due to the specific circumstances of that witness”.



It is not unusual for the tribunal prosecutors to call imprisoned convicts to testify in trials taking place in The Hague, but this is the first time a hearing has been held outside the tribunal.



Merdijana Sadovic is IWPR’s Hague tribunal programme manager.