The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and HerzegovinaNews
INDICTMENT ISSUED FOR CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY IN KLJUČ AREA
13.11.2020. 13:41
- ILIJA KRČMAR, born in 1967 in Jajce, a citizen of the Republic of Serbia,
- BOŠKO UNČANIN, born in 1969 in Prijedor, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- SVETISLAV RAČIĆ, born in 1962 in Prijedor, a citizen of the Republic of Serbia,
- ŽELJKO BAJIĆ, born in 1963 in Ključ, a citizen of the Republic of Serbia,
- NIKOLA ĆUK, born in 1967 in Ključ, a citizen of the Republic of Serbia,
- NIKOLA ĆUK, born in 1966 in Donji Vrbljani, a citizen of the Republic of Serbia,
- MARINKO MILJEVIĆ, born in 1971 in Gornji Budelj, in the Ključ municipality, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and
- DRAGAN DESPOT, born in 1964 in Lanište, in the Ključ municipality, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a citizen of the Republic of Serbia.
These accused persons are charged, as members of the Army of Republika Srpska, with acting contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, during a widespread and systematic attack on the Bosniak civilian population in the territory of Bosanska Krajina, in the Ključ municipality.
According to the allegations in the Indictment, the aforementioned persons are charged with the following: on 1 June 1992, by prior agreement, he and other persons used weapons and threats to expel Bosniak civilians from the building of the “Radenko Stojnić” Primary School in Velagići, in the Ključ municipality, in which they were detained.
The expelled civilians were ordered to line up in front of the school, after which the accused, along with other persons, fired from automatic firearms and executed and killed at least 78 victims, whose bodies were then transported by trucks and buried in a mass grave. Immediately after the war, in 1996, their remains were found and exhumed from the Lanište II mass grave.
The aforementioned accused persons are charged with the commission of the criminal offence of Crimes against Humanity, referred to in Article 172, paragraph 1, item h) as read with item a), all in conjunction with Article 29 and Article 180, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Prosecution will prove the allegations of the Indictment by summonsing around 75 witnesses and 3 expert witnesses, as well as by enclosing 309 pieces of material evidence.
The Indictment has been forwarded to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for confirmation.
This announcement does not prejudice the outcome of the criminal proceedings and does not violate the principle of the presumption of innocence. A person shall be considered innocent of a crime until guilt has been established by a final verdict (Article 3, paragraph 1 of the CPC BiH).
