Most extensive indictment for war crimes in the Doboj and Teslić area filed

The BiH Prosecutor's Office has filed a Category 2 indictment for war crimes in the Doboj and Teslić area. This is the most extensive indictment for war crimes in this area, covering 4 defendants.

A prosecutor from the Special Department for War Crimes has filed an indictment against: Milan Ninković, born 06/15/1943 in Doboj, a citizen of BiH, Borislav Paravac, born 02/18/1943 in Doboj, a citizen of BiH, Andrija Bjelošević, born 04/11/1954 in Derventa, a citizen of BiH, Milan Savić, born 03/26/1952 in Doboj, a citizen of BiH.

The defendants are accused of participating, along with military, police, and paramilitary formations under the control of the then structures of the Autonomous Region of Northern Bosnia (SAOSB) in Doboj, in a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population of Bosniak and Croat nationality in the Doboj and Teslić area, from the beginning of May 1992 until the end of 1993.

The defendants consciously and actively participated in the widespread and systematic attack while holding positions: defendant Ninković as a member of the Crisis Staff of the Serb Municipality of Doboj, defendant Paravac as the President of the Crisis Staff of the Serb Municipality of Doboj, defendant Bjelošević as the Head of the Public Security Center Doboj and a member of the Crisis Staff, and defendant Savić as the Deputy Head of the Public Security Center Doboj, thereby committing the criminal offense of crime against humanity under Article 172 of the BiH Criminal Code.

Through the said attack and persecution, which included murders, unlawful detention of civilians in camps, torture, abuse, beatings, and looting of the population, and their expulsion from the territory under SAOSB control, almost the entire Bosniak and Croat population, consisting of tens of thousands of citizens, was expelled from the Doboj and Teslić area.

The defendants are accused of organized attacks by the army, police, and paramilitary formations on settlements, villages, and places inhabited by the Bosniak and Croat population, during which civilians were killed and captured and taken to camps at several locations in the Doboj area.

During the persecution, hundreds of victims were murdered through individual and group killings and executions of detained civilians, some of whom were buried in mass graves and exhumed and identified after the war, while some victims are still being searched for.

Thousands of people were also unlawfully detained in camps and detention facilities at multiple locations, where victims were tortured, abused, and beaten, which left lasting consequences on the health of many surviving victims.

The defendants are also accused of destroying a large number of religious and cultural buildings in the Doboj, Teslić, and surrounding areas, which served the religious needs of the Bosniak and Croat population and were protected cultural heritage monuments in the area.

The filed indictment is a Category 2 case, for which the investigation was initiated at the Hague Tribunal's prosecutor's office, after which the case was forwarded for prosecution to the BiH Prosecutor's Office.

The prosecutor from the Special Department for War Crimes of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, along with investigators and associates, conducted a thorough investigation and evidence collection, after which the indictment was filed, which is the most extensive indictment for war crimes in the Doboj and Teslić area.

The BiH Prosecutor's Office will prove the guilt and responsibility of the defendants by calling 214 witnesses and expert witnesses, and hundreds of pieces of material evidence have been attached to the indictment.