Zoran Milanović misled the public: Indictments against Croatian generals have not been forwarded to Croatia because they do not exist!

(Patria) - Several cases that are not even in the investigation phase have been sent to the Republic of Croatia through international legal assistance, and it is solely up to the judiciary of the Republic of Croatia whether to work on these cases or not. However, Croatian President Zoran Milanović, knowingly or not, called these cases indictments that, in fact, do not exist.

The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not filed indictments against generals of the Croatian Army, confirmed for Istraga.ba from multiple sources in the judiciary.

“Indictments do not exist,” said one of the interlocutors of the portal Istraga.ba.

Let us recall, the President of the Republic, Zoran Milanović, said on Wednesday that new indictments had arrived in Croatia from neighboring Bosnia and Herzegovina. Milanović, at the ceremony marking Croatian Army Day, spoke about the “stench of indictments” coming from neighboring countries, especially from BiH, decades after the war. He also warned about “various political tribunals that call themselves international courts.”

“When will the indictments against Croatian war commanders stop coming thirty years after the war from Bosnia and Herzegovina? They are coming,” said Milanović.

Subsequently, the media in Croatia “discovered” that “from the Republika Srpska, proceedings were recently requested against five former commanders of the Croatian Army (HV) and the Croatian Defense Council (HVO). These are, allegedly, Damir Krstičević, Mate Laušić, Zlatan Mijo Jelić, Stanko Sopta, and Tihomir Blaškić.

However, according to information from Istraga, there are no indictments in this case. Croatia voluntarily took over the criminal case against Zlatan Mijo Jelić five years ago. Other indictments simply do not exist. Sources from Istraga in the BiH judiciary say these are cases that have been gathering dust in the drawers of the BiH Prosecutor's Office for decades, and that these cases, as part of regional cooperation, were forwarded to the states where the reported persons are located. Specifically, immediately after the aggression against BiH, the Ministry of Interior of the Republika Srpska submitted reports to judicial institutions for war crimes against Serbian civilians. These reports were mostly without any evidence, but they contained the names of high-ranking officers who commanded units, in this case the Croatian Army and HVO, where the alleged crimes occurred.

After the establishment of the BiH Prosecutor's Office, these reports were transferred to their jurisdiction. In several cases, it was determined that there was a “reasonable suspicion” that a criminal offense had been committed. One of these cases concerns Željko Šiljeg, a retired general of the Croatian Army and the BiH HVO. It was determined that there is a reasonable suspicion that he committed war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but an indictment against him has not been filed because, according to the BiH Criminal Procedure Code, he cannot be charged until he is questioned as a suspect. The BiH Prosecutor's Office, through international legal assistance, asked Croatia to question Šiljeg, but this never happened. Therefore, even in this case, there is no indictment against a Croatian Army officer.

So, what is this about?

Given that the reports against HV and HVO officers were in the drawers of the BiH Prosecutor's Office for years, which, due to the unavailability of the reported (not suspected) persons, could not carry out any checks, it was decided at meetings on regional cooperation of prosecutor's offices from BiH, Serbia, and Croatia to forward the files to the countries where the reported persons are located. Thus, several cases that are not even in the investigation phase were sent to the Republic of Croatia through international legal assistance, and it is solely up to the judiciary of the Republic of Croatia whether to work on these cases or not. However, Croatian President Zoran Milanović, knowingly or not, called these cases indictments that, in fact, do not exist.

The Court of BiH also confirmed that no indictment against Croatian Army officers has been submitted to them.