KOJIĆ: BiH COURT MECCA FOR WARTIME STAFF OF THE SO-CALLED ARMY OF BiH

SREBRENICA, FEBRUARY 3 /SRNA/ – The Court of BiH has become a Mecca for the wartime staff of the so-called Army of BiH, because various Sena Uzunovićs are now completing there what they began during the wartime turmoil against Serbs, assessed Branimir Kojić, the head of the Organisation of Families of Captured, Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians of Srebrenica.

Kojić emphasized that yesterday’s assessment by medical expert that the former commander of the Fifth Corps of the so-called Army of BiH, Atif Dudaković, "is not fit to follow the trial" on the indictment for war crimes against Serbs in Krajina is the latest proof that the Court of BiH is deliberately dragging out such proceedings and "defending criminals." "The Dudaković trial has become nothing more than a tragicomedy," Kojić told SRNA. Kojić believes it is highly questionable that everyone who killed Serbs during the war in BiH, and was charged only 25 or even 30 years later, has suddenly become "ill" therefore unable to attend trials, while at the same time having no problem speaking at various gatherings, given that they enjoy "hero status" within the Muslim corps. "As soon as one of those criminals gets a hangnail, the esteemed experts determine that they are not capable of following the trial, and the hearing is postponed at that very moment. And so on endlessly. The very fact that the trial in the Dudaković case was last held in September supports this claim," Kojić stressed. On the other hand, Kojić pointed out, Serbs are tried expeditiously - regardless of the health condition of the accused, as seen in the case against SNSD leader Milorad Dodik, as well as Vojin Pavlović, where the Court did not take into account the defendants’ health conditions. He recalled that SIPA even arrested Serbs who had just undergone surgery, such as the late Professor Milan Bogdanović, who proved his innocence in the first-instance proceedings but, unfortunately, did not live to see the second-instance verdict. According to him, such a man was, in the view of this distorted court, capable of following the trial because he was a Serb, and they were in a hurry to imprison and sentence him. "Because of all this, we - the families of Serb victims - have no trust in this court, which is a Mecca for the wartime staff of the so-called Army of BiH," Kojić said. At yesterday’s hearing at the Court of BiH, medical experts agreed that the former commander of the Fifth Corps of the so-called Army of BiH, Atif Dudaković, is not fit to stand trial for crimes committed against Serbs in Krajina. Presiding judge Željka Marenić gave the Prosecutor’s Office and the defence a deadline of seven days to submit written statements on the experts’ findings, after which a decision will be made. Dudaković is on trial for crimes committed against Serb soldiers and civilians in the areas of Bosanski Petrovac, Ključ, Bosanska Krupa, and Sanski Most. In addition to Dudaković, members of the Fifth Corps - Sanel Šabić, Ibrahim Šiljedić, Safet Salihagić, Adis Zjakić, Hasan Ružnić, Redžep Zlojić, Samir Solaković, Fatmir Muratović, Muharem Alešević, Husein Balagić, Edin Domazet, Ejub Koženjić, Ibrahim Nadarević, and Said Mujić - are also charged. The indictment charges them with the murder of more than 300 Serbs, mostly civilians -primarily elderly persons - as well as soldiers who had surrendered or were captured.