Defense requests termination of proceedings against Orić

The defense of Naser Orić has requested the Hague Tribunal to order the BiH Court to terminate the proceedings for war crimes in Srebrenica against their client, given that he has already been tried for these crimes, BIRN reported, as stated by the BiH news agency Patria.

Attorneys Vasvija Vidović and John Jones have requested that the President of the Hague Tribunal appoint a special panel to order the BiH Court to "permanently terminate the proceedings against Naser Orić" given that he was definitively acquitted of war crimes committed in the Srebrenica area in The Hague in 2008.

The defense emphasized that he cannot be tried twice for the same offense.

The BiH Court confirmed the indictment in mid-September this year, charging Naser Orić and Sabahudin Muhić with crimes against prisoners of war committed in the Bratunac and Srebrenica areas.

Orić, former commander of the Army of BiH (ABiH) units in Srebrenica, and Muhić, a member of these forces, are accused of killing three prisoners of Serb nationality in 1992 in the villages of Zalazje, Lolići, and Kunjerac.

Orić's defense states that the proceedings against their client are related to "the same military activities that were the basis for the proceedings before the Hague Tribunal."

- The Hague case concerned operations of Muslim armed units between May 1992 and February 1993 in Srebrenica and Bratunac. The case before the BiH Court concerns events in these municipalities in the second half of 1992. All allegations in the new indictment are linked to events that the Hague Prosecution considered before filing the indictment - the lawyers' submission states.

The Hague Tribunal definitively acquitted Orić of crimes committed in Srebrenica in 2008.

The defense requested that the proceedings be concluded "urgently."

- Due to the proceedings in BiH, Orić is subject to restrictive measures that prevent him from leaving the Federation of BiH and require him to report to the police regularly. These measures affect his private and business life. With the possibility of being tried twice for the same offense, these measures create insecurity in Orić's life, which should have been stopped by the acquittal verdict in The Hague - the submission states.

Orić pleaded not guilty last month and is currently awaiting the start of the trial, writes NAP.