Bosnian Army Ex-Officer Cleared of War Crime Against Serb Prisoners

The appeals chamber of the Bosnian state court announced on Friday that it has rejected a prosecution appeal and cleared Hazim Fazlovic, the former commander of the Third Battalion of the 108th Motorised Brigade of the Bosnian Army, of bearing responsibility for crimes against prisoners of war in Brcko in 1993.

In his original trial, Fazlovic was also acquitted of the charge that he had command responsibility for members of his battalion's Intervention Unit who captured 11 Bosnian Serb Army soldiers, abused them and then killed them, but did not intervene to punish them.

The prosecution claimed in its appeal that the original trial had incorrectly and incompletely established the facts of the case and called for Fazlovic to be convicted, but the appeals chamber rejected its arguments as unfounded.

The verdict is now final and cannot be appealed.