The struggle of Bosnian Osman Osmanovic in the conspicuous war crime trial against him in Belgrade is still going on

The struggle of Bosnian Osman Osmanovic in the conspicuous war crime trial against him in Belgrade is still going on

The former military personnel Osman Osmanovi? from Bosnia-Herzegovina is being tried in Belgrade. Although the evidence is very weak, he was convicted in the first instance. Osman Osmanovic complained against the decision of the court of first instance and appealed together with his lawyer Djordje Dozet from Belgrade. On November 8, there was a court hearing before the Court of Appeal in Belgrade. At the court hearing before the Court of Appeal on November 8, the court summarized the information from the first-instance verdict, and the lawyer, as well as the prosecutor, each presented their complaints. The public prosecutor requested an increase of the first-instance sentence from five to six years, while Osman Osmanovic's lawyer requested acquittal. 

On November 23^rd 2019, Osman Osmanovic lost his freedom. Back then he was arrested on the Serbian border while trying to travel from Bosnia-Herzegovina to Serbia. He has been in custody in Belgrade for three years now because he is not a Serbian, but a Bosnian citizen. His arrest is based on a single complaint, at the time without a warrant or charge. However, the Serbian authorities argued that there was a risk of flight. The lawyer of Osman Osmanovic sees it differently, from the legal point of view all conditions for the defense at large are given. Osmanovi? is accused of inhumanly treating, torturing, and committing violence against three people in the Rasadnik camp near the Bosnian city Br?ko during the Bosnian war in May and June of 1992. Two of the three victims named by the court have already died, a natural death years after the end of the war, and could not testify themselves before the court in Belgrade. Therefore, only Vasiljko Todi? could testify and the whole charge is based on the testimony of this one living witness. Todi? testified self-related that Osmanovi? was present at his interrogation in Rasadnik. At the time, Osmanovi? told him “You’re lying, Chetnik!”, and hit him in the face.

Especially the jurisdiction of the Serbian court is strange in this case. Because Osmanovi? is a Bosnian citizen, and the act alleged against him is said to have been committed on the territory of Bosnia-Herzegovina and not in Serbia, and the alleged victims are also Bosnian citizens residing in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Now, a Serbian court can also punish war crimes, which were committed in the neighbouring state. However, in other war crimes investigations, which are very similar, the cases have been handed over to the Bosnian judicial authorities. Bosnia and Herzegovina authorities asked Serbia to extradite Osmanovic. But the court in Serbia refused. The Center for Humanitarian Law in Belgrade argues that in order to intensify regional cooperation, which is necessary for the efficient prosecution of all suspects, but also for building the confidence of victims, this trial should have been transferred to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It also points out that the court wrongly anonymized the indictment and violated its own set of rules.

Osmanovic's relatives point out that the trial is politically motivated, as well as that Osman Osmanovic's fundamental rights are violated in several ways. In particular, the right to a fair trial is completely denied to Osman Osmanovic. Despite detention proceedings, the trial is delayed ad infinitum and Osmanovic is denied the right to defend himself at large without any plausible legal grounds. Already some courts in Europe have prohibited extradition of Bosnian citizens to Serbia - despite relevant arrest warrants - because they argued that the accused could not expect a fair trial in Serbia. On the other hand, Bosnian diplomacy has absolutely failed and has not come close to exhausting all the possibilities that would be available to it in such cases.

The relatives of Osman Osmanovic appeal to all human rights organizations and human rights campaigners to actively engage with the case at hand in order to provide Osman Osmanovic with the opportunity for a fair defense and to give him the possibility to prove his innocence.