"Bosnia suspended Tuzla Column investigation"

Serbian War Crimes Prosecution spokesman Bruno Vekaric says the Bosnian Prosecution has suspended the investigation into the “Tuzla Column“ case. “We received that information from Sarajevo. It was said at a Round Table. But you have to ask the Bosnian prosecution. Only one person who took shots at the JNA troops was sentenced in that case, to eight years in prison. I presume that the proceedings came to an end afterwards,“ Vekaric told Banja Luka daily Glas Srpske. "Bosnia suspended Tuzla Column investigation" He said that he possessed footage from a press conference, where representatives of defendant Ilija Jurisic, the accused in the Tuzla Column case of 1992, said that Bosnia-Herzegovina was conducting a “staged“ trial in Jurisic’s case. “Jurisic’s lawyers claim that the trial was initiated with the sole aim of transferring the case to Bosnia-Herzegovina,“ said Vekaric, adding that a ruling could be taken in the case in Belgrade today or tomorrow. Speaking of the Dobrovoljacka Street case, the spokesman said that cooperation was progressing well with the prosecution in Sarajevo, with whom information had been exchanged on three occasions in October 2006. “As far as the Dobrovoljacka Street case is concerned, according to Bosnian Chief Prosecutor Milorad Barasin, that investigation has been running in Bosnia-Herzegovina for over seven years. We’ve offered every possible assistance in terms of opening up and shedding light on that crime, and we didn’t subsequently receive any feedback. That’s why we’ve launched our own investigation,“ he explained. According to Vekaric, the Serbian prosecution has proposed a meeting of the two prosecutors for them to reach a joint solution, so that “no-one responsible for crimes evades justice.“ “At the same time, it would be good to reach agreements at political level. For an agreement on exchange of evidence that the Serbian prosecution has with all the other countries in the region to be made with the Bosnian prosecution too,“ said the spokesman. Speaking of Interpol warrants issued by the Serbian Special War Crimes Prosecution for suspects in the Dobrovoljacka Street case, he said that the special prosecution had “done its part of the job, but that it was still a matter of political assessments and agreements.“ Vekaric said that politicians should “find common solutions, not pass comment on trials and investigations.“ “I really don’t know what’s going on in Sarajevo as far as Interpol warrants are concerned. That case has been on the agenda for seven years and nothing has been done,“ the spokesman stressed. He claimed that warrants had been issued along the usual channels, which had subsequently ignited a “political war of words“ and talk of issuing warrants for Serbian citizens as a counter-measure from Bosnia-Herzegovina. “As a result, serious matters have degenerated to the level of a child’s game,“ Vekaric lamented. Bruno Vekaric (FoNet, archive)

"Bosnia suspended Tuzla Column investigation"

He said that he possessed footage from a press conference, where representatives of defendant Ilija Jurišić, the accused in the Tuzla Column case of 1992, said that Bosnia-Herzegovina was conducting a “staged“ trial in Jurišić’s case.

“Jurišić’s lawyers claim that the trial was initiated with the sole aim of transferring the case to Bosnia-Herzegovina,“ said Vekarić, adding that a ruling could be taken in the case in Belgrade today or tomorrow.

Speaking of the Dobrovoljačka Street case, the spokesman said that cooperation was progressing well with the prosecution in Sarajevo, with whom information had been exchanged on three occasions in October 2006.

“As far as the Dobrovoljačka Street case is concerned, according to Bosnian Chief Prosecutor Milorad Barašin, that investigation has been running in Bosnia-Herzegovina for over seven years. We’ve offered every possible assistance in terms of opening up and shedding light on that crime, and we didn’t subsequently receive any feedback. That’s why we’ve launched our own investigation,“ he explained.

According to Vekarić, the Serbian prosecution has proposed a meeting of the two prosecutors for them to reach a joint solution, so that “no-one responsible for crimes evades justice.“

“At the same time, it would be good to reach agreements at political level. For an agreement on exchange of evidence that the Serbian prosecution has with all the other countries in the region to be made with the Bosnian prosecution too,“ said the spokesman.

Speaking of Interpol warrants issued by the Serbian Special War Crimes Prosecution for suspects in the Dobrovoljačka Street case, he said that the special prosecution had “done its part of the job, but that it was still a matter of political assessments and agreements.“

Vekarić said that politicians should “find common solutions, not pass comment on trials and investigations.“

“I really don’t know what’s going on in Sarajevo as far as Interpol warrants are concerned. That case has been on the agenda for seven years and nothing has been done,“ the spokesman stressed.

He claimed that warrants had been issued along the usual channels, which had subsequently ignited a “political war of words“ and talk of issuing warrants for Serbian citizens as a counter-measure from Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“As a result, serious matters have degenerated to the level of a child’s game,“ Vekarić lamented.