Instead of continuously denying the Tuzlanska kapija massacre and hiding from justice in the case of Đukić, as well as having Mirko Vrućinić, charged with the crimes in Sanski Most, recently escape from BiH to Serbia, we demand that the prosecutor’s offices and courts in both states collaborate so that war criminals can be prosecuted.
Let us remind you that, on May 25, 1992, members of the units ‘Green Berets’ and ‘Patriotic League’ and paramilitary units of the Croatian Defence Forces (HOS) and Croatian Defence Council (HVO) attacked the village of Bradina, Konjic municipality, and committed a crime against the Serb civilians. From May 25 to 27, 48 civilians were killed and around 240 villagers were taken to the Čelebići prison camp.
Esad Ramić, Omer Borić, Šefik Nikšić, Adnan Alikadić, Mitko Pirkić, Redžo Balić, Hamed Lukomirk, Safaudin Ćosić, Muhamed Cakić, Ismet Hebibović, Enes Jahić, Senadin Ćibo, and Željko Šimunović are standing trial before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the crimes committed against the Serb civilian population in the Konjic area from May 1992 to May 1993, including Bradina.
On May 1995, from the positions of the Republika Srpska Army, the city of Tuzla, UN Safe Area (UN Resolution 824 of May 6 1993) was shelled, resulting in 71 persons killed and more than a hundred injured, mostly young people who decided to go for a walk and see their friends that May evening. The majority of the killed were persons between 18 and 25 years of age; the youngest victim, Sandro Kalesić, was only two years old.
On June 12 2009, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted Novak Đukić, former commander of the Tactical Group Ozren of the Republika Srpska Army, and sentenced him to the imprisonment of 25 years for the war crime against civilian population. After the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina vacated this judgment, in June 2014, the Court of BiH reduced Đukić’s sentence to 20 years. In the period between the two judgments, Novak Đukić escaped to Serbia, allegedly for medical treatment.
A warrant was issued against Đukić in 2014, after which it was demanded that Serbia take over the judgment. The procedure for recognising and executing the final and enforceable criminal judgment of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina against Novak Đukić has been stalling before the War Crimes Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade since February 2016. Although more than five years passed, the Higher Court announced that, because of his mental state, Đukić would not attend the trial until September 2021.
