INDICTMENT ISSUED FOR WAR CRIMES IN ŠEKOVIĆI

Prosecutor of the Special Department for War Crimes has issued an Indictment against Blagoje Vlačić (1970), charged with War Crimes against Civilians committed against the victims of Bosniak nationality in Šekovići.

The Indictment has been issued against Blagoje Vlačić, born on 16 April 1970 in Živinice, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who is currently in custody. The accused is charged with acting in violation of the provisions of the Geneva Conventions relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war, as a member of the Military Police Unit within the Birčani Brigade of the Army of Republika Srpska, during the war and armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the territory of the Municipality of Šekovići. The Indictment alleges that, in May of 1993, the accused person came to the Lovac facility in Šekovići, where Bosniak civilians were detained, and took three Bosniak prisoners out of their cells with the intention of depriving them of their lives. Due to the previous severe mistreatment, these prisoners were significantly physically weakened and exhausted, and when the accused took them out of their cells, he started kicking them and hitting them with his hands until the victims succumbed to his blows. Then the accused ordered one prisoner to take their bodies back to the cells and threatened him with his life not to tell anyone what had happened. Furthermore, the Indictment alleges that the accused tortured, beat and severely mistreated one Bosniak prisoner, inflicted injuries upon him with his knife and carved a sign of a cross on his forehead, all of which left permanent scars on the victim, and as a result of the inflicted injuries and severe beating, the prisoner could not move for the next twenty days. The accused is charged with the commission of the criminal offense of War Crimes against Civilians, as referred to in Article 173 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Indictment has been forwarded to the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for confirmation.