S1 1 K 031299 19 Kri Babić Ranko et al.

The subject arose: By filing an Indictment

Indictment: criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity under Article 172(1)h), as read with Subparagraphs a), f), i) and k), all in conjunction with Article 180(1) and Article 29 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Prosecutor's number: T20 0 KTRZ 0001268 11

Number of parties: 3

Prosecutor: Dika Omerović

Preliminary Hearing Judge: Šaban Maksumić

Acting Judicial Council / single judge in first instance proceedings: Mira Smajlović, Zoran Božić i Mediha Pašić

Confirmation date: 14.01.2019.


Department: Section I


Case in progress

Defendant: Ranko Babić
Judgment / Decision
Defendant: Bratislav Bilbija
Judgment / Decision
Defendant: Đuro Adamović
Judgment / Decision

1.

Defendant: Ranko Babić, Bratislav Bilbija i Đuro Adamović
Offense: krivično djelo Zločini protiv čovječnosti iz člana 172. stav 1. tačka h), u vezi sa tačkom a), f), i) i k) a sve u vezi sa članom 180. stav 1. i u vezi sa članom 29. Krivičnog zakona Bosne i Hercegovine.
Place of committment: Prijedor
Damaged by crime: Public property Number of injured / victims: The exact number has not been determined
Defendant: Ranko Babić
Mjere osiguranja Prohibition of meeting with certain persons Period:
Defendant: Bilbija Bratislav
Mjere osiguranja Prohibition of meeting with certain persons Period: određene rješenjem od 28.01.2019. godine
Mjere osiguranja Travel ban Period: određene rješenjem od 28.01.2019. godine
Defendant: Đuro Adamović
Mjere osiguranja Prohibition of meeting with certain persons Period: određene rješenjem od 28.01.2019. godine
Mjere osiguranja Travel ban Period: određene rješenjem od 28.01.2019. godine

On 14 January 2019 the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina confirmed the indictment charging the accused Ranko Babić, Bratislav Bilbija and Đuro Adamović with the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity under Article 172(1)h), as read with Subparagraphs a), f), i) and k), all in conjunction with Article 180(1) and Article 29 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

At the plea hearing held on 21 February 2019, in the case no. S1 1 K 031299 18 Kro, the accused Ranko Babić, Bratislav Bilbija and Đuro Adamović pleaded not guilty of the commission of the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity in violation of Article 172(1)(h), as read with subparagraphs (a), (f), (i) and (k), all as read with Article 180(1) and Article 29 of the CC BiH.

 

The main trial was initiated on 18 Martch 2019. The defense  is currently presenting its evidence.

Panel of Judges composed of: Smajlović Mira, Božić Zoran, Pašić Mediha

The Panel of the Appellate Division of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina delivered, on 31 May 2022, a second instance judgment in the case of Ranko Babić et al., grating the appeals filed by defense attorneys for the accused Bratislav Bilbija and Đuro Adamović, revoking the Judgment of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. S1 1 K 031299 19 Kri of 16 November 2021 in its convicting part and ordering a trial before a panel of the Appellate Division of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The same judgment dismissed as ill-founded the appeal filed by the Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Judgment of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. S1 1 K 031299 19 Kri of 16 November 2021 upheld in its acquitting part.     

The Trial Judgment of 16 November 2021 found the accused Bratislav Bilbija and Đuro Adamović guilty of commission of the criminal offense of War Crimes against Civilian Population under Article 142(1) of the Criminal Code of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (CC SFRYJ), and the accused Đuro Adamović also as read with Article 22 of the same Code. The Court sentenced the accused Bratislav Bilbija to imprisonment for a term of two (2) years, and the accused Đuro Adamovićo to imprisonment for a term of three (3) years.

The accused Bratislav Bilbija and Đuro Adamović are found guilty because, during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the territory of Prijedor municipality, on an unspecified day in August 1992, within an armed attack of the military, police and paramilitary units of the Army of Republika Srpska, as members of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), they accorded inhumane treatment to the non-Serb civilian population in the hamlet of Bukvik, village of Ljeskare, the Prijedor municipality, in contravention of Article 3 of the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949.

 

The accused Ranko Babić, Bratislav Bilbija and Đuro Adamović are acquitted of the charged that the committed the following: the accused Ranko Babić, the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity under Article 172(1) h) in connection with sub-paragraphs a), f), i) and k) of the CC BiH, all as read with Article 180(1) and Article 29 of the CC BiH, and the accused Bratislav Bilbija and Đuro Adamović, the criminal offense of Crimes against Humanity under Article 172(1) h) in connection with sub-paragraphs a), f) and i) CC BiH, all as read with Article 180(1) and Article 29 of the CC BiH.

Panel of the Appellate Division of the Court of BiH delivered a second-instance
Judgment in the case of Ranko Babić et al. on 31 May 2022, granting the appeals filed by, respectively, the defense teams for the accused Bratislav Bilbija and Đuro Adamović, revoking the convicting part of a Judgment of the Court of BiH dated 16 November 2021 and ordering a trial before the Appellate Division Panel of the Court of BiH. The same judgment dismissed as ill-founded the appeal filed by the Prosecutor's Office of BiH and upheld the acquitting part of the Judgment of the Court of BiH dated 16 November 2021.