Brčko Judiciary is Biased and Discriminates Against People

The Brčko judiciary dispenses justice along ethnic lines. Non-Serbs are prosecuted and punished for trivial matters, while the families of 496 Bosniak and Croat victims from the past war await their justice. For example, Mensur Peljto, a member of the Army of BiH, and Galib Hadžić, a police inspector, were tried for slapping someone and received two and a half years in prison for a single slap. The trials have proven to be politically motivated, and justice selective. The Brčko judiciary is full of horrific examples of illegality. It clearly acts politically and selectively in its work. Bosniaks are prosecuted for harassment along ethnic lines, while the worst crimes committed by Serbs are ignored.

Convicted Judges Too

Although the Hague Tribunal confirmed the involvement of Branko Pudić, a member of the police intervention unit, and Monika Simenunović Karan Ilić, in the brutal murder of civilians alongside the criminal Goran Jelišić, known as Adolf, the Brčko Prosecutor's Office did not consider these details from the Tribunal's verdict. Monika was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, the same as Bosniaks who slapped captured Serb soldiers once. Jelišić was sentenced to 40 years in prison for unimaginable crimes in Brčko, which is the highest sentence handed down. Judges and prosecutors at the Tribunal did not encounter worse crimes even at the parallel Tribunal for Rwanda. It seems incomprehensible that these facts do not concern the judiciary of Brčko District.

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It is not surprising, given who works in the Brčko judiciary. Patria has proven that one of the judges of the Brčko District Court of Appeals, Srđan Nedić, had prior convictions. Nedić was sentenced to five months in prison and one year probation for stealing tires in the Republic of Croatia. In 1988, Nedić stole a wheel from Anka Šunjić's car in Ploče and later admitted to the act. This means nothing, as Nedić was first appointed a judge of the Basic Court in Brčko, and eight years later, a judge of the Brčko Court of Appeals.

When the Chief Prosecutor Became a Witness

Damjan Kaurinović, the president of the Brčko Court of Appeals, is a story in himself. As the president of the Grand Chamber of the Military Court in Bijeljina during the war, Kaurinović tried people who were captured as civilians, sentenced to many years of imprisonment, and worst of all, who were later used as 'human shields' by the Army of Republika Srpska during their imprisonment. He received the 'Miloš Obilić Order' from Radovan Karadžić, which is awarded for acts of direct wartime engagement. Finally, one of the problematic figures from the District is Zekerijah Mujkanović, the Chief Prosecutor of Brčko DC. In the trial of Redžep Salaj for crimes against prisoners of war, Mujkanović appeared as a witness and gave his testimony. The well-known Brčko lawyer Osman Mulahalilović requested Mujkanović's recusal. According to the law, the prosecutor should have been recused before the start of the proceedings. It was tragic.

The international community, which constantly advocates for an independent judiciary, cannot advocate for such a corrupt system that serves everything but justice. Judicial apartheid is at play in Brčko.