Court of BiH confirms indictment against Jovo Kevac for crimes in Biljani near Ključ

(Patria) - The Court of BiH confirmed on January 13 the indictment in the case of Jovo Kevac, which charges the accused Jovo Kevac with committing the criminal offense of crimes against humanity from Article 172, Paragraph 1, Point h) in conjunction with Point e), all in conjunction with Articles 29 and 180, Paragraph 1) of the Criminal Code of BiH, and the criminal offense of crimes against humanity from Article 172, Paragraph 1, Point h) in conjunction with Point a), all in conjunction with Article 180, Paragraph 2) of the Criminal Code of BiH.

The accused is charged with crimes committed in July 1992, during the attack on the villages of Gornji and Donji Biljani, when about 250 civilians of Bosniak nationality from the said villages were captured and killed after capture, whose remains were exhumed and identified from several mass graves, and that as commander of the Second Battalion of the Army of Republika Srpska in the Ključ area, he acted contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions on the Protection of Civilians during Wartime.

Furthermore, the accused is charged that, within the framework of a widespread and systematic attack directed against civilians of Muslim nationality in the municipality of Ključ, knowing about such an attack, as part of that attack, he committed persecution of the civilian Muslim population due to their national and religious affiliation, by carrying out imprisonment or severe deprivation of physical liberty contrary to the basic rules of international law.

It is further stated that the accused failed to take necessary and reasonable measures to prevent the killing of captured civilians by members of the VRS subordinate to him.