INDICTMENT ISSUED AGAINST IVAN ANČIĆ (1962)

The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH has issued an Indictment against Ivan Ančić, charged with the commission of the criminal offense of War Crimes against Civilians, as referred to in Article 173, Paragraph 1, items (c), (e) and (f) of the BiH CC, all in conjunction with Article 180, paragraphs (1) and (2) and Article 31 of the same Code.

A Prosecutor of the Team V of the Special Department for War Crimes within the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH has issued an Indictment against Ivan Ančić, born on 02 January 1962 in Tihaljina, BiH, resident of Split, citizen of the Republic of Croatia.

The accused Ivan Ančić has been charged with acting in violation of Article 3, Paragraph (1), items (a) and (c) of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War dated 12 August 1949, during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and armed conflict between HVO and Army of BiH, in the period from the end of June to mid-August 1993, in the Dretelj camp in Čapljina Municipality, in his capacity of both the warden of the Dretelj camp and Assistant Commander of the Military Police Battalion for the South and Commander of the Dretelj Barracks.

The accused has been charged with perpetrating and aiding and abetting the perpetration of inhumane treatment, torture, killing, intentional infliction of severe physical and mental pain and suffering, physical injuries, starvation, pillaging, forced labour, and with failing to undertake necessary and reasonable measures, as a superior and responsible person, to prevent perpetration of the aforementioned crimes and punish perpetrators of these crimes. 

In 31 counts of the Indictment, this accused person, being a superior person responsible for the work of the guards and other members of the HVO Military Police and HVO, has been charged, inter alia, with supervising and having a full control of the conditions in the Dretelj camp and life and limb of around 2,000 Bosniak male civilians including boys of less than 16 years of age and men older than 60 from the territory of the municipalities of Stolac, Čapljina, Prozor, Neum, Ljubuški and Mostar and from other places, who were illegally deprived of liberty and detained in the camp.

Among other things, the accused has been charged with keeping prisoners locked with no food or water for several days, which resulted in the death of one of the prisoners, as well as with physical and mental mistreatment of prisoners, which resulted in the death of at least seven prisoners as a consequence of beating, shooting at them or failing to provide adequate medical assistance.

The Indictment has been forwarded to the Court of BiH for confirmation.