The Prosecutor of the Special Department for War Crimes of the BiH Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal with the BiH Court Appellate Division from the first instance Verdict in the case against Suljo Karajić a.k.a. Hodža, born on 20 July 1968 in the municipality of Velika Kladuša.

Under the first instance Verdict of the BiH Court, dated 13 April 2010, Suljo Karajić was found guilty of the criminal offenses of Crimes against Prisoners of War under Article 175 of the CC BiH and War Crimes against Civilians under Article 173 of the CC BiH and sentenced to a compound prison sentence of 18 years.

The accused Karajić is charged that during the armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina between the members of the 5th Corps of the Army of BiH and members of the National Defense of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia, during the period from August 1994 until February 1995, in the territory of the Bihać District, in violation of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, as the commander of the 2nd Platoon of the military police of the 505th Chivalrous Motorized Brigade of the 5th Corps of the Army of BiH headquartered in Bužim, he committed, as well as ordered his subordinate military police officers to commit killing, infliction of severe physical and mental pain, inhuman treatment and causing great suffering and injuries to prisoners of war.

The accused Karajić has been charged with having personally committed killings and abuse of the captured members of the Western Bosnia National Defense and of the persons he saw as sympathizers of the Western Bosnia National Defense, as well as with having ordered his subordinates to commit killings and abuse the prisoners and civilians in various ways.

Dissatisfied with the sentence pronounced, the BiH Prosecutor’s Office filed an appeal from the first instance Verdict with the Appellate Division of the Court of BiH on 27 July 2010. The Appeal was filed for incorrectly and incompletely established facts under Article 299 of the CPC BiH and the decision on the sentence under Article 300(1) of the CPC BiH.

The Prosecutor acting in the case appealed the first instance verdict for being inadequate and too lenient, as well as incommensurate to the manner of perpetration of the crimes charged against the accused, gravity of the crimes, criminal responsibility of the accused, as well as the number of the criminal acts charged against the accused.

The BiH Prosecutor’s Office moved the Court to uphold the appeal and modify the Verdict by imposing on the accused a sentence of long-term imprisonment for a term exceeding the sentence of 18 years imposed.