Associations remind: Marinko Jurčević halted the investigation in the case of Milenko Stanić

The Association „Woman – victim of war“ and the Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide sent, on March 2, a letter to the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Special Department for War Crimes, in which it reminds that Bosnia and Herzegovina received approval from the Hague Tribunal on September 25, 1997, stating that there is sufficient evidence, by international standards, to provide reasonable suspicion that Milenko Stanić committed serious violations of international law, according to a statement from these two associations, reports the Patria news agency.  

According to the Rules of the Road of the Rome Agreement, the Hague Tribunal classified Stanić into the „A“ category, enabling the case against him to be processed before the competent judicial authorities of BiH.

We consider it our duty to inform the public that the case of Milenko Stanić, along with 29 other names of suspects for serious violations of international law, was submitted in 1997 to the Federal Ministry of Justice, to the attention of Safet Pašić, Deputy Minister, for further procedure and criminal prosecution.

During the transfer of jurisdiction from the Hague International Tribunal to the BiH judiciary, in accordance with the „Rules of the Road of the Rome Agreement“, this case, along with others, was handed over to the newly established Prosecutor's Office of BiH, and to Marinko Jurčević.

Marinko Jurčević, as Chief Prosecutor, then adopted the Rulebook on the Review of War Crime Cases, according to which all cases received from the Hague Tribunal are re-examined by the prosecutor's offices. This has resulted in over 500 cases not being prosecuted to date.

In this way, the Association „Woman – victim of war“ and the Association of Witnesses and Victims of Genocide call on the Prosecutor's Office of BiH to urgently open an investigation against Milenko Stanić, but also investigations for all cases of the International Tribunal of category “A” that are locked in drawers and to inform the public about it.

Prosecuting these cases is also an obligation of Bosnia and Herzegovina not only under the Rules of the Road of the Rome Agreement, and thus towards the United Nations, but also based on obligations undertaken by signing the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union, the statement says.  

Who is Milenko Stanić

Milenko Stanić, as a voluntary witness in the cases against Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, attempted to absolve himself of responsibility for crimes committed in the municipality of Vlasenica. According to his testimony, the legal authorities of BiH are the main culprits for the war in BiH, and that the then President of the Presidency of the Republic of BiH is responsible for the suffering and emigration of Bosniaks from the territory of the municipality of Vlasenica.

The credibility of Stanić's testimony before the International Tribunal is best evidenced by the stance of the judges of the International Tribunal, who warned Stanić that they would abandon his testimony if he avoided answering the prosecutor's questions, after which Stanić confirmed that he had information about over 800 detained Bosniaks, about which he informed Mladić and Karadžić and admitted the existence of the Sušica camp, which he tried to call a “reception center.”

Reviewed cases

Since 1996, the Hague Court's Rules of the Road Unit has received files against a total of 5,789 persons suspected of war crimes. By September 29, 2004, the Unit had reviewed and determined the category of cases for a total of 3,489 persons, and returned them to domestic authorities for processing. Of the cases returned to domestic authorities in accordance with the Rules of the Road, 846 received the “A” category designation, 2,346 the “B” category, and 675 received the “C” category designation.”