MONSIGNOR FRANJO KOMARICA, BISHOP OF BANJA LUKA, VISITED THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE OF BIH AND MET WITH THE CHIEF PROSECUTOR

The Chief Prosecutor of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH Goran Salihovic discussed with the Banja Luka bishop - Monsignor Franjo Komarica about the prosecution of war crimes with the aim to strengthen the rule of law, as well as about coexistence and reconciliation in BiH.

Mr. Salihovic informed Bishop Komarica about the efforts undertaken by the Prosecutor’s Office in order to efficiently solve and prosecute war crimes in the entire territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is one of the priorities of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH.

Bishop Komarica was interested in specific war crimes cases related to the suffering of ethnic Croat victims in the Banja Luka region, Kotor Varoš and Posavina, which significantly affect the return to pre-war population, the maintenance of peace, reconciliation and coexistence across the entire BiH.

He was also interested in the possibility of expediting the exhumation and the burial of a Catholic priest and church devotees who were killed at the location of Trubar during the World War II; the prosecution of a war crime from 1995 - murder of a Prijedor priest Tomislav Matanović that has not been solved to date, as well as the possibility of shedding some light on the murder of  priest Ivan Grgić in 1992.

The Chief Prosecutor informed Bishop Komarica about the efforts of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH regarding the prosecution of war crimes in Briševo near Prijedor. He stated that the Prosecutor’s Office will make every effort to shed some light on all crimes and prosecute all responsible perpetrators regardless of the ethnicities of both the perpetrators and victims of war crimes, and that the Prosecutor-s Office is firmly committed to this.

It was concluded that all parts of BiH society, including judicial institutions and religious communities should work to strengthen the trust and the rule of law in BiH.