Đorđe Ristanić charged with crimes, rape, and looting of Bosniaks and Croats in Brčko

The Prosecutor of the Special Department for War Crimes of the BiH Prosecutor's Office has filed the most extensive war crimes indictment to date in the Brčko area, encompassing crimes and suffering of more than hundreds of people during 1992, reports the Patria News Agency.

The Prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office has filed an indictment against:

Đorđe Ristanić, born 08/02/1957 in Brčko, a citizen of BiH.

The accused is charged with participating, from April to December 1992, within a widespread and systematic attack directed at the Bosniak and Croat population in and around Brčko, in his capacity as President of the War Presidency of the Brčko Municipality, in a joint criminal enterprise and grave breaches of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions for the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.

The accused is charged with war crimes committed against hundreds of victims of Bosniak and Croat nationality, mainly from the settlements of Centar, Kolobara, Dizdaruša, Klanac, Mujkići, Meraje, Rosulje, Grčica, Novo Brčko, the settlement "Š", and other parts of the city predominantly inhabited by Bosniaks and Croats, who were illegally arrested in early May 1992 and taken to detention in several camps and detention facilities in the Brčko area, including the SUP building, the basement of the Health Center, the "Luka" camp, the "Laser" company facility, the "DTV Partizan" facility, as well as JNA garrison facilities and other facilities used for illegal detention, abuse, and murder of detainees.

Some of the direct executions of civilians were recorded on the spot by foreign correspondents' photographs, and they caused public condemnation worldwide.

Detained civilians were killed, tortured, abused, beaten, and subjected to extremely humiliating abuse, and crimes against civilians were committed by members of military, police, and paramilitary groups, over whom the accused had control.

Hundreds of civilians were killed or taken in an unknown direction, after which all traces of them were lost. After the war, the victims' remains were found and exhumed at various locations, and efforts to locate some of the victims are still ongoing.

The indictment also includes the persecution of the population from the Brčko area, as well as the mass looting of property belonging to the Bosniak and Croat population, after their detention or expulsion from their homes and apartments in the Brčko area.

Furthermore, a large number of individuals were subjected to severe forms of torture, physical and psychological abuse, and the victims who were abused were not provided with medical assistance, leaving these crimes with lasting consequences on the lives and health of the victims and their families.

The indictment also includes rape and sexual abuse, as well as humiliation of detained women and men.

The indictment also includes the destruction and demolition of mosques in the Brčko area, after which the remaining construction material was removed and transported to other locations.

The accused Đorđe Ristanić is charged with the criminal offense of crimes against humanity, under Article 172 of the BiH Criminal Code.

This indictment falls under Category 2 cases, which were transferred to BiH justice from the Hague Tribunal during the investigation phase. The indictment filed with the BiH Prosecutor's Office is the most extensive indictment ever filed for war crimes committed in the Brčko area, including cases handled by the Hague Tribunal, it was announced from the BiH Prosecutor's Office.

Within the indictment, it is proposed to call more than 230 witnesses and expert witnesses, and to read the testimonies of witnesses who have died in the meantime. More than hundreds of pieces of evidence have been proposed, which ranks this indictment among the most voluminous war crimes indictments filed in the history of the BiH Prosecutor's Office.

The indictment will be submitted for confirmation to the BiH Court.