COURT OF BIH: PARTIALLY CONFIRMED INDICTMENT IN CASE OF DŽEVAD MLAĆO AND OTHERS FOR WAR CRIMES AGAINST PRISONERS OF WAR

SARAJEVO, JANUARY 18 (ONASA) – The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on December 29, 2023. partially confirmed the indictment in the case of Dževad Mlaćo et al., in which the accused Dževad Mlaćo and Selmo Cikotić are accused of having committed the following acts with the actions described in the indictment:
Accused Dževad Mlaćo, the criminal offense of war crimes against prisoners of war from Article 175 point a), in connection with Articles 30 and 180 paragraph 1 of the CC of BiH, and Article 41 paragraph 1 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions and Article 23. of the Hague Protocol.
Accused Selmo Cikotić, the criminal offense of war crimes against prisoners of war from Article 175, points a) and b), in connection with Article 180, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Criminal Code of BiH, and Article 41, paragraph 1 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions and Article 23 of the Hague Protocol.
At the same time, the Court rejected the indictment against the suspect Tahir Granić.
The accused Dževad Mlaćo and Selmo Cikotić are accused of being during the war in BiH and during the armed conflict between the HVO and the ARBiH, in the period from 07/18/1993. until mid-April 1994, Dževad Mlaćo as the president of the War Presidency of the Bugojno municipality, and the accused Selmo Cikotić as the commander of OG Zapad ARBiH from March 12, 1993. until 13.04.1994., and from the specified date, in his capacity as Chief of Staff in the 7th Corps of the ARBiH, during the performance of the aforementioned duties and functions, within the scope of his authority, acted contrary to the rules of international humanitarian law, violating the provisions of Articles 75, 86 and 87 of the Supplementary Protocol no. And with the Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949 on the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, Art. 3 and 130 of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War from August 12, 1949, and contrary to the Order of the Presidency of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Application of the Rules of International Law of War in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Additional Protocol II from 1977, so the accused Dževad Mlaćo ordered the murder of prisoners of Croatian nationality, 23 to 26 of them, in such a way that a list of the so-called “extreme” prisoners of the HVO, and then taking those persons to the premises of the BH bank, where they were tortured and beaten, after which they were taken by members of the military police to special rooms in the Rostovo locality, only to be liquidated by members of the military police.
It is further stated that the accused Selmo Cikotić failed to take all possible measures within the limits of his authority to prevent the commission of criminal acts of murder and inhumane treatment, which were carried out in such a way that, after Dževad Mlaćo, in his capacity as the president of the War Presidency of the Municipality of Bugojno, after 15th extraordinary session of the War Presidency, on July 22, 1993. year, as the de facto authority of the civil and military authorities in the area of the municipality of Bugojno, whose decisions were respected and implemented, made a decision to secretly liquidate a certain number of prisoners of Croatian nationality that he labeled as “extreme part”. The accused is also accused of issuing orders to take captives of Croatian nationality to perform forced labor on the front lines, knowing that such action is impermissible and illegal, because their lives are threatened in such a way, in which way he treated them inhumanely.