CHIEF PROSECUTOR MET WITH FRANJO KOMARICA, THE BISHOP OF BANJA LUKA. CENTRAL TOPICS PERTAINED TO PROSECUTION OF WAR CRIMES OF KILLINGS OF PRIESTS

The Chief Prosecutor informed Bishop Komarica about the efforts and activities undertaken by the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the aim of shedding light on war crimes of killings of priests of the Banja Luka Diocese, namely Ivan Grgić from Ravska, Ratko Grgić and Tomislav Matanović from Prijedor, who were killed in 1992 and 1995, respectively.  

The Chief Prosecutor said that a team of Prosecutors and Investigators working on the cases of war crimes committed in the area of Prijedor would be formed soon in order to focus on the discovering of the perpetrators of these crimes.

Moreover, the Chief Prosecutor informed the Bishop about great efforts being invested into issuing an Indictment for war crime in Briševo near Prijedor, where the largest persecution of victims of Croat ethnicity was committed in one day, in July of 1992, when more than 60 victims were killed, the entire population expelled or taken to Prijedor camps and their property pillaged and destroyed.

Bishop Komarica expressed his hope that light would soon be shed on these crimes in order to punish the killings of innocent priests and civilians from Briševo, as a step towards the strengthening of the rule of law, peace and reconciliation between peoples.  

The Bishop expressed his support to the efforts of the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina in determining the truth and punishing the wrongdoings and war crimes.

The Chief Prosecutor stressed that the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina was working intensively on many cases of war crimes, and that results and prosecution of responsible persons were to be expected in the period to follow.