here - Humanitarian Law Center/Fond za humanitarno pravo
here - Humanitarian Law Center/Fond za humanitarno pravo
here - Humanitarian Law Center/Fond za humanitarno pravo
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
I Findings<br />
1. Few indictments<br />
The Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor indicted just seven persons during 2012. This was the<br />
lowest number of indictees in a year since the establishment of the Office of the War Crimes<br />
Prosecutor. 6 From this number, only Prizren, Tenja II and Bosanski Petrovac were new cases.<br />
The indictments in the Ovčara V and Ćuška/Qushk cases resulted from proceedings that had<br />
already been conducted before the War Crimes Chamber of the Belgrade High Court. Nor were<br />
the Tenja II and Bosanski Petrovac cases the result of the independent work of the Office of the<br />
War Crimes Prosecutor: the Bosanski Petrovac case was referred to the Office of the War Crimes<br />
Prosecutor by the Cantonal Court of Bihać (BiH) and the Tenja II case was referred by the State<br />
Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Croatia. It should also be noted that the HLC filed a<br />
criminal complaint with the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor in November 2011, requesting<br />
the prosecution of the persons responsible for the crimes committed in Tenja. 7<br />
The only encouraging sign is that the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor widened the<br />
indictments in the Ćuška/Qushk case to include crimes committed in the villages of<br />
Plavljane/Pavlan and Zahać/Zahaq (Peć/Pejë municipality). The HLC filed a criminal complaint<br />
with the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor regarding the crimes committed in these villages,<br />
as far back as August 2010. 8<br />
2. “Big fish” still escape justice<br />
Serbian Justice Minister Nikola Selaković said, immediately after taking office, that “big fish”<br />
would no longer escape justice in the fight against organised crime and corruption, and added:<br />
“We have seen the big fish slip through the net and the small ones being caught.” 9 While the<br />
Minister’s criticism of the Serbian justice system has been addressed, with regard to the<br />
6<br />
In 2011 the Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor indicted nine individuals, and between 2003 and 2012 a<br />
total of 151 individuals.<br />
7<br />
See the HLC Press Release: “The HLC files a criminal complaint against more than 30 individuals for war<br />
crimes committed in Croatia in 1991”, of 13 October 2011.<br />
8<br />
See the HLC Press Release: “Criminal complaint filed against members of Yugoslav Army and Ministry of<br />
the Interior of the Republic of Serbia Serbia accused of war crimes against Albanian civilians in the villages of<br />
Zahać/Zahaq and Pavljane/Pavlan” of 25 August 2010.<br />
9<br />
“Selaković:'Big fish' will not escape justice any more”, Večernje novosti, 1 August 2012<br />
http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/naslovna/aktuelno.289.html:390953-SelakovicquotKrupne-ribequot-vise-nece-izmicatipravdi<br />
5