Bosnian Croats Retried for Wartime Abuse of Bosniak Prisoners

The retrial of wartime prison officers Ivan Kraljevic, Mato Jelcic, Stojan Odak, Vice Bebek, Vinko Radisic, Slavko Skender and Dragan Milos, who are accused of abusing detainees at the Military-Investigative Prison in Ljubuski, opened at the Bosnian state court on Monday.

Under the first-instance verdict handed down in August 2018, Kraljevic was sentenced to two years in jail, Jelcic to a year and a half, Odak to seven years, and Vice Bebek and Vinko Radisic to one year each. Skender and Milos were acquitted.

According to the charges, at various periods between September 1993 and March 1994, Kraljevic, Jelcic and Skender were managers of the prison, where more than 100 Bosniaks were held, while the other defendants were guards.

All were members of the Croatian Defence Council, the Bosnian Croat military force.

They are charged with having held the detained civilians and prisoners of war in bad conditions in the Ljubuski prison, where they allowed them to be mistreated, gave them very little food and took them to places where they were made to do forced labour.

The trial is due to continue on January 17.