Court of BiH: Pušina and Vikić pleaded not guilty to war crime

Former commander of the Special Unit of the Ministry of Interior of BiH Dragan Vikić and assistant minister for uniformed police of the MUP of RBiH Jusuf Pušina (later also minister of the MUP) pleaded not guilty before the Court of BiH to war crimes against members of the JNA in April 1992 in Veliki Park in Sarajevo, reports the Patria news agency.

In addition to Vikić and Pušina, the indictment also charges Nermin Uzunović and Mladen Čovčić with the criminal offense of war crimes against prisoners of war. They also pleaded not guilty.

The court confirmed the indictment on January 13, 2017.

The indictment charges them with having, during the war and armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina in April 1992, between members of the armed forces of the Army of RBiH and units of the territorial defense and reserve composition of the JNA placed under the unified command of the VRS stationed in the barracks in Lukavica, Nermin Uzunović and Mladen Čovčić, as members of the reserve composition unit of the Special Unit, together with known members of the Special Unit and members of the reserve composition unit, committed the murder of captured VRS members.

The statement of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH states that "Dragan Vikić, as commander of the Police Detachment – Special Unit of the MUP of RBiH and commander of the reserve composition units of the Special Unit of the MUP of RBiH, and Jusuf Pušina, as assistant minister for uniformed police of the MUP of RBiH, as superior persons, knew or could have known that their subordinates were preparing to commit the criminal offense of murder of prisoners of war, failed to prevent the commission of the criminal offense, or to take necessary and reasonable measures to ensure that the perpetrators of the criminal offense were punished."