Lawyers for Pasko Ljubicic and Ivica Rajic this week objected to plans to refer their clients to the Sarajevo war crimes chamber and requested the cases be heard in Croatia.
Ljubicic, a former Bosnian Croat military police commander, is charged with 15 counts of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war. He is alleged to have had individual and command responsibility for crimes committed by his troops in Bosnia’s Lasva valley, including the Ahmici massacre, which claimed lives of more than 100 Bosnian Muslims in April 1993.
Rajic, who was a commander for the Croatian Defence Council, HVO, is charged with ten counts of violations of the laws or customs of war and breaches of the Geneva conventions, including sexual assaults and murders allegedly committed by forces under his command in late 1993. The charges relate to attacks on Muslims in the town of Vares and the village of Stupni Do in central Bosnia.
Under the tribunal’s rule, known as 11 bis, low- and mid- ranking cases can be transferred to national courts in order to relieve pressure on the tribunal and help ensure its own prosecutions are completed by 2008 as planned.
Tomislav Jonjic, defence counsel for Ljubicic, told the court he was afraid his client’s case may not be “properly protected” if he were tried in Bosnia and Hercegovina, and pointed out that a Croatian court had already begun proceedings against Ljubicic before he was transferred to The Hague.
“The Croatian prosecution is ready and willing to continue with the trial whereas lawyers at the court of Bosnia and Hercegovina would have to put in a lot of work to understand the case,” said Jonjic.
He also expressed concern that Bosnia’s Zenica prison, where Ljubicic would most likely be held if sentenced, was “very unsafe”, and that Serb and Croat inmates were particularly at risk. Jonjic cited local press reports of a recent disturbance, which led prison officials to transfer three Serbs and one Croat to another detention unit.
A representative of the Bosnian justice ministry, Milana Popadic, acknowledged there had been “problems” at the Zenica prison but told the court that construction of a new state jail was underway and should be completed by December 2006.
Jonjic pointed out, however, the institution would have room for only 306 inmates, though there are an estimated 10,000 people awaiting trial by Bosnia’s own state prosecution service.
Judge Alphonse Orie asked Popadic, who was addressing the chamber via a video link from Sarajevo, to supply the court with a copy of a report on Zenica prison which has reportedly been commissioned by the Bosnian justice ministry. This will allow the court to determine the situation at the prison more accurately.
Rajic, meanwhile, was represented by Doris Kosta who is technically his co-counsel, but who took over responsibility for the case in May when Rajic dismissed lead counsel Zeljko Olujic over a difference of opinion on how the case should be handled.
Kosta was largely silent during the proceedings, and said her concerns had been covered by Jonjic’s submissions. She did stress that she would oppose any transfer of her client, who has been denied an application for provisional release while awaiting trial, to Bosnia.
Helen Warrell is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.
