EXECUTIONS, PERSECUTIONS: Indictment against Samardžija for war crimes

(Patria) - The Prosecutor of the Special Department for War Crimes has filed an indictment against Samardžija Zdravko, born in 1954 in Sanski Most. The accused is charged with, as a member of the command of the Special Police Detachment of the CSB Banja Luka, commanding a unit together with Ljuban Ećim, and together with other persons from the army and police structures, participating in a widespread and systematic attack on the civilian population of Bosniak and Croat nationality in the area of Kotor Varoš and surrounding places.

The indictment includes the unlawful detention and persecution of more than hundreds of persons, as well as the executions and murders of more than dozens of persons who were killed at various locations, including children and elderly persons.

The accused is also charged with torture, abuse, beatings, and inflicting severe physical and psychological injuries that left permanent consequences on the victims' health, burning of houses, and destruction of property of expelled civilians.

The indictment also includes the destruction, looting, and demolition of 16 mosques, Catholic churches, and other religious buildings, including buildings hundreds of years old, which represent cultural and historical monuments. The accused is charged with the criminal offense of crimes against humanity, and the prosecution will prove the guilt of the accused by calling more than 270 witnesses and expert witnesses, and by submitting more than hundreds of pieces of evidence. The indictment has been forwarded for confirmation to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.