Trials for fighting in Ukraine and Syria to begin

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The first trial for fighting in Ukraine is scheduled to begin next week at the State Court, with an indictment charging Gavrilo Stević with unlawfully forming and joining foreign paramilitary formations in that country.

Stević is accused of traveling from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Belgrade via a border crossing in 2014, from where he flew from Nikola Tesla International Airport to Moscow, and then to Rostov and the Luhansk region in Ukraine.

The indictment states that Stević, as a volunteer in that area, along with other individuals from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, unlawfully joined and became a member of the paramilitary formation of the "Jovan Šević" Unit, which operated against the legitimate forces of Ukraine.

"Within the said unit, he was issued weapons and a uniform and carried out various military activities until the end of September 2014," the indictment states.

Although the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the indictment against him in early April, Stević only denied guilt for fighting in Ukraine in mid-July this year.

Next week, a trial is set to begin at the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for Ibri Ćufurović, who is charged with organizing a terrorist group, i.e., fighting in Syria.

The indictment charges Ćufurović with traveling from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Turkey on April 21, 2014, from where he illegally crossed the border and arrived in Syria, where he joined the structures of the so-called Islamic State (ISIL), BIRN writes.

"The accused was in the said area until April 20, 2019, where, along with other individuals from Bosnia and Herzegovina who were staying in Syria with the same intention, using the name Abu Kasim Albosni, he participated in terrorist activities, provided assistance, and fought on the side of ISIL forces in the Bejt Komandos unit, which later changed its name to El Aksa," the indictment against Ćufurović states.

Ćufurović is in custody, ordered by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina due to the risk of flight, after being extradited in April this year as the first person after the fall of ISIL, and an international arrest warrant was issued for him in December 2015.