ATIJAS: THE KILLING OF THREE CIVILIANS IS NOT CONSIDERED A CRIME BY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE OF BiH

DOBOJ, JANUARY 29 /SRNA/ - The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH stated that there are no elements of a criminal offense in the complaint filed by Dario Atijas from Doboj, who, more than 20 years ago, sued an unknown person for a war crime committed in 1994, when three people were killed by shelling, including his grandmother and grandfather in the Doboj hamlet of Jošava.

Atijas told SRNA that he is outraged by both how long he had to wait for the prosecutorial decision and by the decision itself. He recalled that in August 1994, his grandparents, Milić and Vasilija Radojčić, were killed by a shell in the Jošava hamlet, along with the postman who had delivered their pensions, while they were sitting and drinking coffee in front of their house. On that occasion, his grandfather’s brother, Milan Radojčić, was seriously wounded. Atijas stated that more than 20 years ago, he filed a complaint with the police station in Doboj against an unknown person, to determine who targeted civilians and residents of the mentioned village and why. According to him, after more than 20 years, he received a notification claiming that this killing does not contain elements of a criminal offense. He emphasized that he wants to publicly share this injustice and show it to his friends so that together they can learn lessons from this and similar situations. In a letter dated January 27, the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH informed Atijas that on January 23, a decision was made not to pursue an investigation against Jukan Džemal for the war crime against civilians. It was explained that there is no evidence, and therefore no grounds to suspect that he committed this criminal offense. On January 10, 2025, the District Court in Doboj acquitted Jukan Džemal /67/, former commander of the so-called Army of BiH from Gračanica, of the war crime against Serb civilians committed in 1995 in the Doboj settlement of Boljanić. This is a non-final verdict, which can be appealed. Jukan, in his capacity as commander of the 221st Mountain Brigade Gračanica, part of the 22nd Division of the so-called Army of BiH, was accused of ordering an artillery crew on August 10, 1995, to fire a 14.5-millimeter anti-aircraft machine gun at the Travnjak area in Boljanić. At that time, one female civilian was killed in front of her family home.