SYMBOLISM OR NOT? Nikšić and Čović sign agreement on anniversary of verdict for joint criminal enterprise

(Patria) – In the afternoon hours on Wednesday, the SDP and HDZ announced that the signing of the agreement between the eight-party coalition and HDZ BiH has been moved from November 25 to November 29. In the meantime, the presidents of NIP and SDP, Elmedin Konaković and Nermin Nikšić, were "tightening" the final details, including the date itself, with Čović in Mostar.

Nikšić told Raport this morning that symbolism is important to them and that the signing of the agreement on the Statehood Day of BiH in the BiH Parliamentary Assembly should be viewed in that context, and that processes concerning state matters should be returned to the state institutions.

"This is a practical act through which we also demonstrate our commitment to that goal. That is why this symbolism is important to us. Now there are criticisms in the public because we are signing the agreement on the Statehood Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, supposedly, should be a non-working day. I believe that precisely because of the importance of this day, we should sign the agreement on Statehood Day, and through this act, show our symbolic and real commitment to Bosnia and Herzegovina. After all, Statehood Day and Independence Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina have not been non-working days for us for a long time," said Nikšić.

However, after the change of date, there is another symbolism that the eight-party coalition, nor Konaković and Nikšić, apparently did not think about today.

On Tuesday, November 29, it will be five years since the verdict for six defendants: Jadranko Prlić, Bruno Stojić, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petković, Valentin Ćorić, and Berislav Pušić, who were convicted of a joint criminal enterprise. Dragan Čović did not want to comment on that verdict for a time, but in 2019 he said he disagreed with it and did not accept it, and that he was proud of the HVO. A few days ago, Čović paid tribute to Mate Boban.

"The Trial Chamber found that a joint criminal enterprise (or JCE) began to exist in mid-January 1993 with the aim of creating a Croatian entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina that would enable the reunification of the Croatian people. In the opinion of the Trial Chamber, this JCE had as its common criminal goal 'the domination of Croats in the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna through the ethnic cleansing of the Muslim population.' The members of the JCE were found to have put into motion an entire system of deportation of the Muslim population from the Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna. This system consisted of a wide range of crimes: displacement and detention of civilians, killings and destruction of property during attacks, mistreatment and destruction of property during eviction operations, mistreatment and very harsh conditions of detention in HVO detention centers, use of detainees for physical labor on the front lines or as human shields, and the displacement of detainees and their families to other territories after they were released from detention. The Trial Chamber found that thousands of people were victims of these acts of violence, which were committed in an organized manner by the military and political forces of the HVO," the summary of the verdict states.

On that day, during the reading of the verdict, Slobodan Praljak killed himself by drinking a bottle of poison.