Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Thanks to plea bargaining, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has handed down its first verdict based on evidence obtained through the global crackdown on Sky ECC and Anom apps, the court stated on Friday. 

The question of rehabilitation and reintegration of war criminals has not attracted much attention either in the countries of the former Yugoslavia or internationally. This is somewhat odd considering that 59 of 91 individuals sentenced by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY have already been released from prison after serving sentences for grave crimes.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wednesday sentenced the Prime Minister of Bosnia's largest entity, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fadil Novalic, to four years in prison in a first-instance verdict over the procurement of 100 overpriced ventilators from China in 2020, at a cost to the budget of 10.5 million Bosniak marks, or just over 5 million euros.

The Bosnian state court told BIRN that it has written to the Turkish authorities seeking the extradition of Sakib Mahmuljin, who was jailed for eight years for failing to stop Middle Eastern volunteer fighters mistreating and murdering captured Serb soldiers, medical staff and civilians, but failed to appear to start serving his sentence.

Sakib Mahmuljin, the former commander of the Third Corps of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, ABiH, was sentenced by the Appeal Chamber of the State Court in April to eight years in prison for crimes committed in 1995 in Vozuca and Zavidovici.

But he is not serving his jail sentence and is instead undergoing medical treatment in Turkey, his lawyer confirmed to BIRN. 

Valentin Inzko announced on Friday that he has imposed an amendment to Bosnia and Herzegovina's criminal code to outlaw the public denial, condoning, trivialisation or justification of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes when this is done in a way that is "likely to incite to violence or hatred".

Bosnia's top court has rejected an appeal filed by Zoran Babic in September 2019 with the Constitutional Court against a verdict passed down in May that year in which he said his right to a fair defence had been violated.

Under the verdict, the Appeals Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced him to 13 years in prison for a "crime against humanity".

Bosnia's top court has found Jasmin Keserovic guilty of having travelled to Syria in January 2013, fought for ISIS and taken part in terrorist activities under the name Abu Muhamed Al Bosni.

On Thursday, The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina also found Keserovic guilty on the second count of having published an incitement to murder on the internet in 2016.

The director of the Intelligence-Security Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, OSA BiH, Osman Mehmedagic, and the head of its Cyber Security Department, Muhamed Pekic, appeared before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina and pleaded not guilty to charges for abuse of office or authority.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has accused Ivan Djuric, in his capacity as a member of the Military Police of the Bosnian Serb Army, VRS, of having participated in crimes against Bosniaks and Croats who were unlawfully detained in Luka detention camp in Brcko, northern Bosnia.