Ruzica Jukic

The strategy also says that the state prosecution "should file a proposal to transfer a case at the earliest possible stage of the criminal proceedings".

The president of the Bosnian state court, Ranko Debevec, told BIRN that he has still not been informed by the state prosecution that the person or persons who threatened him with death last year have been identified.

From January to May this year, the Bosnian state prosecution filed just four indictments for war crimes, two fewer than in the same period in 2018.

The apparent slowdown has sparked concerns that this may cause further delays in attempts to deal with the country's enormous backlog of war crimes cases.

But their trial remains on hold due to Djuric's sickness.

Nedim Salaharevic, who saw his brother, Edin, being killed in Vlasenica, told BIRN that he had been waiting for justice for years.

"This is yet another blow to victims … Djuric and Kraljevic were rulers of life and death in Vlasenica. I saw it with my own eyes, I watched them kill my brother, Edin," he said.

The conflict between Bosnia's Security Minister Dragan Mektic and the country's acting Chief Prosecutor, Gordana Tadic, which has been ongoing for months, reached a new peak this week.

Ruzica Jukic, one of the country's most senior judicial officials, told BIRN on Monday that she has been given police protection after death threats were issued against her on Facebook.

"These threats came from some individuals who called for lynching and hanging. I was granted protection as a preventative measure," Jukic said.