Having agreed concrete cooperation in the framework of the Protocol on Cooperation in Prosecution of Perpetrators of War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and Genocide, the Croatian judiciary and the police have detained Ivan Hrkać aka "Čikota", suspected of committing war crimes against Bosniaks in the area of Široki Brijeg in 1993, in the territory of Split.
He is charged to have, as a member of the Convicts Battalion of the HVO /Croatian Defense Council/, personally beaten, abused and forced to perform hard labor the captured members of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and to have killed one prisoner and beaten, tortured and abused several Bosniaks.
The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued an indictment against the suspect in question who was hiding from BH Justice in the Republic of Croatia for many years. Only after the signing of the Protocol on Cooperation and the transfer of evidence from the Prosecutor's Office of BiH to the colleagues in Croatia have the conditions been provided for the Croatian judiciary to take action.
The Prosecutor's Office of BiH continues to cooperate with Prosecutors in Croatia and Serbia in accordance with the protocols on cooperation aiming to bring to justice as many war criminals hiding from justice in neighboring countries as possible.
A trilateral meeting of the Chief Prosecutors of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia is to be held in Sarajevo on Monday, December 16, 2013 where they should discuss the specific activities in the process of cooperation in the future.