The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced a former member of the so-called Bosniak Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina to 20 years in prison, while his comrades and commanders were acquitted of the shooting of at least 12 members of the Croatian Defense Council after they were captured near the end of 1993 in Križančevo Selo in central Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The crime in Križančevo Selo near Vitez is one of the heaviest in the Croat-Bosniak war, and it took place on December 22, 1993, just one day after the humanitarian convoy Bijeli put to Nova Bila and Bosna srebrena left central Bosnia, which had been under siege by Bosniaks for months. power. In the attack of the BiH Army on Križančevo Selo, Šafradin and Dubravica near Vitez, 64 Croats were killed, including two elderly women.
By the first-instance decision of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Almir Sarajlić, a member of the 325th Mountain Brigade of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was found guilty of participating in the shooting of at least 12 members of the Croatian Defense Council who had previously surrendered. They were killed on the way to the brigade headquarters, and their bodies were exchanged 40 days after the crime, Index reports.
The Prosecutor’s Office charged the commander of the 325th Mountain Brigade of the BiH Army, Ibrahim Purić, and Ibrahim Tarahija, who was the commander of III. battalion of the same brigade, Nijaz Sivru, who was then the assistant commander for security of the brigade, as well as Rusit Nurković, who performed the duties of the deputy commander for morale, information and propaganda activity (IPD) and religious issues of the 325th brigade of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Along with the convicted Almir Sarajlić, the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina charged three more of his comrades, Šaćir Omanović, Sadik Omanović and Kasim Kavazović.
However, according to the panel’s explanation, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina could not confirm without a doubt that Purić, Tarahija, Sivro and Nurković knew and did not take measures to prevent the crime or punish the perpetrators, nor that Šaćir and Sadik Omanović and Kasim Kavazović participated in the crime itself. After the verdict, prosecutor Ivan Matešić, who represents the indictment, announced that he would appeal the decision of the first-instance panel.
