Acquitted War Crime Defendant Sues Bosnia for Compensation

Slavko Milovanovic, who was acquitted of involvement in an attack on the village of Resagici, near Srebrenica, in May 1992, launched his case on Wednesday for compensation for the suffering caused by 15 months of restrictive measures that were imposed on him during his trial.

During the legal proceedings, Milovanovic was barred from meeting or in any way contacting prosecution witnesses or being within 100 metres of them, and he had to report to the local police station every two weeks.

Milovanovic's lawyer Petko Pavlovic suggested that an expert assessment of his client's mental state be carried out by a neuro-psychiatrist.

"The examination is proposed with the aim of determining the level and intensity of mental anguish and fear caused by the outcome of the criminal proceedings and the damage to his reputation and honour," Pavlovic said.

He also presented medical documentation about the deterioration of Milovanovic's health.

Milovanovic, a former reservist policeman at the police's Public Security Station in Skelani, near Srebrenica, was acquitted by the Bosnian state court in November 2019.

He was cleared of participating, together with police officers, soldiers and paramilitaries, in an attack on the village of Resagici and of ordering that Bosniak civilians' houses, which women and children had been forced to leave, be set on fire.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for July 22.