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Palija: Indictment Revised

27 November 2007  A day before the presentation of closing arguments, the Prosecution has revised part of the indictment against Jadranko Palija.

The Prosecution of Bosnia and Herzegovina has revised the section of the indictment against Jadranko Palija containing charges of war crimes against civilians. Some allegations have now been dismissed.

As the result of the revision, which was done during the hearing today, the Prosecution has removed part of clause 3 of the indictment, which charged Palija with "forcing people to perform hard labour, causing starvation of the population, confiscating and pillaging property, mass destruction and encroaching of property which was unlawful, arbitrary and unjustified by military needs".

The Prosecution considers Palija responsible for war crimes against civilians. The charges include "attacks on civilians, settlements, individual civilians or persons not capable of participating in military operations, which resulted in death, severe bodily injuries or severe deterioration of health of those people", as well as "unselective attacks, which caused injuries to civilians".

This clause of the indictment originally indicated that the mentioned crimes were committed in the course of the armed conflict. The indictment has now been revised to say that the crimes were committed during the war conducted on the territory of BiH.

The first two clauses contained in the indictment charge Palija with crimes against humanity. All criminal offences were allegedly committed on the territory of Sanski Most municipality in the period from 1992 to end 1995, when the indictee was member of the Serbian armed forces.

The Prosecution introduced the changes after the Trial Chamber had pointed out that some parts of the indictment were not defined in a clear way. Prosecutor Dzemila Begic explained that the Prosecution would express itself concerning all other remarks during its closing arguments.

The Prosecution completed its evidence presentation process by introducing the changes in the indictment and presenting additional pieces of material evidence. The defence has also finalised its evidence presentation process by examining witness Zeljko Bajak, a former member of the Military Police Squad with the Sixth Sana Brigade.

Bajak, who belonged to the same squad as the indictee, said he did not hear about the maltreatment and murder of civilians in Sanski Most in the period from 1992 to 1995. He also said that there was a check-point at the road leading out of the town, where he and Palija were on duty occasionally, as military policemen "who were exclusively in charge of soldiers, not civilians".

During his testimony, Bajak described Palija as "a big man, somewhat chubby", but he said that he never saw him after the war and he was not sure if he would be able to recognise him. During his testimony, the witness did not look at the indictee. However, on his way out he looked at him and greeted him, which was noticed by Chairwoman Minka Kreho.

Answering the chairwoman's questions, the witness said that there were no military actions in Sanski Most and that there was some shooting, "but only when people got drunk and celebrated". He also said that he never heard that people belonging to other ethnic groups were murdered, that their houses were set to fire or that anyone escaped from the town.

The Prosecution is due to present its closing arguments on November 28. According to the current timetable, the defence should present its closing arguments on November 29.