Prosecutions in the Background: A Quarter Century of Political Murders in BiH

By: S. Omeragić

The murders of Jozo Leutar, Nedžad Ugljen, Mediha Halilović, wife of General Sefer Halilović, Taib Torlaković, Ramiz Delalić Ćelo, in RS, the murders of engineer Milan Vukelić, Risto Jugović, and even the assassination attempt on journalist Željko Kopanja, remain unsolved to this day...

When looking at the wide range of individuals suspected by the media of being involved in "political murders," both in Sarajevo and Banja Luka, one can conclude that most of the political establishment was involved in all these liquidations, and few managed to escape accusations. All unsolved murders are referred to as political murders.

Shortly after the war, despite the exhumation of horrific mass graves, there was less and less talk about these victims, about rapes and the destruction of cities. These few political murders became more important in the media than the worst war crimes. People from the top echelons of power were killed, and this created general insecurity among citizens. This opened up unprecedented opportunities for criminals, who then began mutual liquidations. Since "respected citizens" were often also "respected criminals," today it is unknown whether many murders are criminal or political. Criminals entered politics through open doors, leading to political criminals and political crime. Political murders have thus become an inseparable part of this combination.

Did the authorities kill certain people who stood in their way? There are well-founded suspicions of this.

Almost regularly, these political murders were used for settling scores with political opponents. And they have been regularly used in election campaigns. Even if they didn't smell of politics, their usability made them political murders. The key culprit was in the judiciary. Twenty-five years after the first murders, the prosecution has failed to complete investigations and bring murderers to justice in a single case. After a quarter-century of darkness over these liquidations, political oligarchies can be accused with a clear conscience of involvement in these deaths, and these murders declared political. Upon taking office, no prosecutor wants to deal with these unsolved murders. After all, they don't handle recent liquidations properly either. Let us recall those old murders.

Nedžad Ugljen was murdered on September 28, 1996. The media reported that "the investigation into Ugljen's murder was 'forgotten' in the drawer of cantonal prosecutor Mustafa Bisić." Bisić kept the investigation in his drawers for seven years. In December 2003, prosecutor Branko Šljivar replaced him and served as chief cantonal prosecutor until 2009.

Ugljen's murder remains unsolved to this day.

Jozo Leutar was murdered in March 1999 in Sarajevo. The investigation by the American FBI indicated that an explosive device was placed in Leutar's car. It is true that Leutar, as Deputy Minister of the Interior of the Federation of BiH, worked for peace between Bosniaks and Croats during the war.

Ivan Andabak, Jedinko Bajkuša, Zoran Bašić, Leutar's driver Željko Ćosić, Mario Miličević, and Dominik Ilijašević Como, one of the HVO unit commanders in Kiseljak, convicted as one of those responsible for the crime against 38 residents of Stupni Do near Vareš, were accused of Leutar's murder. The trial began 16 months after the murder in July 2001 and ended with an acquittal for all six defendants in November 2002.

Radovan Ortynski, state prosecutor of the Republic of Croatia, claimed in meetings with police and judicial officials in Sarajevo that they possessed evidence in Croatia regarding the motives for Jozo Leutar's murder by the Croatian underworld and clients from the circle of HDZ hardliners. However, instead of a joint investigation, mutual accusations of non-cooperation began, and everything was forgotten.

In July 1993, in the apartment of General Sefer Halilović, his wife Mediha and her brother Edin Rondić were murdered. The official version was that they were killed by a grenade. The family always suspected an explosive device planted under the apartment balcony. Perpetrators were never found, leading to multiplying suspicions. Several prosecutors worked on this case.

The commander of an Army of BiH unit in Sarajevo, post-war sports worker and owner of catering facilities, Taib Torlaković, was murdered on January 16, 2004. The bomb that killed him was placed under the seat of the car Torlaković was driving from Vogosća towards Sarajevo.

Former commander of the Ninth Mountain Brigade, Ramiz Delalić Ćelo, was murdered in an ambush near his house in 2007. His killers have not been found to this day.

Murders occurred, prosecutors changed, but investigations or trials ended equally ineffectively without culprits. This happened in both the Federation and the RS.

Engineer from Banja Luka, Milan Vukelić, was killed in a car bomb explosion in the Starčevica neighborhood of Banja Luka, near the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, on November 6, 2007. He had accused Slobodan Stanković, owner of the company Integral Inžinjering from Laktaši, a friend of Milorad Dodik, the leader of RS, of theft.

The assassination attempt on the owner and editor-in-chief of the Banja Luka-based Nezavisne novine, Željko Kopanja, was carried out on October 22, 1999, in Banja Luka. Kopanja was injured by an explosive device placed under his car. He survived the assassination attempt but lost both legs. On August 8, 2016, Kopanja died at the age of 62, certainly due to the consequences of the assassination attempt.

The investigation was even led by England's Scotland Yard, but without success.

General Director of the insurance company "Jahorina," Risto Jugović, was murdered on March 10, 2002, in front of his family home in Pale. Three days before his death, Jugović held a press conference in Banja Luka where he announced that he would be murdered and that a "witch hunt" was being conducted against him from the highest levels of power in Republika Srpska, that he was subjected to constant political, police, and media pressure.

When everything began to be forgotten, two murders occurred that stirred public opinion in BiH. These are the murders of young men Dženan Memić in Sarajevo and David Dragičević in Banja Luka. David's father, Davor Dragičević, filed dozens of criminal complaints against people in the political leadership of Republika Srpska. He presented a video of his dead son, and the numerous cuts on his body clearly indicated a violent death. Constant mass protests by citizens are held in Banja Luka demanding justice for David. In Sarajevo, numerous protest gatherings are held due to Dženan Memić's murder. The alleged perpetrators, the Roma family of Ljube Seferović, initially admitted to hitting Memić with a van. During the testimony, dozens of contradictory statements were given by witnesses, and reports and expert opinions were falsified. Dženan's father, Muriz Memić, accused chief prosecutor Dalida Burzić of concealing evidence and conducting the proceedings in the wrong direction. Memić claims that his son was murdered by someone politically powerful, which led to a poor and illegally conducted investigation, and then to an open public rebellion. Nine prosecutors, including chief prosecutor Dalida Burzić, worked on this case over two years.

The way these two parents are seeking justice for their murdered children, through protests and open accusations against the prosecution, has proven very effective and has shaken the foundations of the ruling political oligarchies.

All these murders can be treated as state terrorism, as the state has not done enough to find the perpetrators, or corrupt officials have refused to do their part. In any case, the murders have shown the state's long-term inability to defend itself against thugs within its ranks. For a quarter of a century, these liquidations have burdened relations within BiH.

Corruption does not begin in the judiciary, but it certainly ends there.