On 29 December 2023 the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina partly confirmed the indictment in the case of Dževad Mlaćo et al., charging the accused Dževad Mlaćo and Selmo Cikotić with the following:

• the accused Dževad Mlaćo – the criminal offense of War Crimes against Prisoners of War under Article 175, Subparagraph a), as read with Articles 30 and 180(1) CC BiH, and Article 41(1) of Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions and Article 23 of the Hague Protocol;

• the accused Selmo Cikotić – the criminal offense of War Crimes against Prisoners of War under Article 175, Subparagraphs a) and b), as read with Article 180, Paragraphs 1 and 2, of the CC BiH, and Article 41(1) of Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions and Article 23 of the Hague Protocol.

At the same time, the Court dismissed the charges in relation to the suspect Tahir Granić.

The accused Dževad Mlaćo and Selmo Cikotić are charged that during the war in BiH and the armed conflict between the HVO and the ARBiH, between 18 July 1993 and mid-April 1994, Dževad Mlaćo as the President of the War Presidency of Bugojno Municipality, and the accused Selmo Cikotić as Commander of the ARBiH OG West from 12 March 1993 to 13 April 1994, and after that day as Chief-of-Staff of the 7^th Corps of the ARBiH, in the course of performing those duties and offices, within their powers, acted in violation of the rules of international humanitarian law, specifically Articles 75, 86 and 87 of Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, Articles 3 and 130 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949, and in violation of the RBiH Presidency Order on the application of rules of international law of war in the Armed Forces of RBiH, and the Additional Protocol II of 1977, so the accused Dževad Mlaćo ordered the killing of Croat prisoners, between 23 and 26 of them, in the manner that a list of so-called “extreme” HVO prisoners was made, after which those men were taken to the BH bank building, where they were tortured and beaten, after which the military police took them to facilities on the location of Rostovo, only to be killed there by the military police.

It is further said that the accused Selmo Cikotić failed to take all possible measures within the bounds of his authority to prevent the perpetration of criminal offenses of killing and inhumane treatment, after Dževad Mlaćo, in his capacity as the President of the War of Bugojno Municipality, following the 15^th Extraordinary Session of the War Presidency, on 22 July 1993, as a de facto authority with civilian and military powers in the territory of Bugojno municipality, whose decisions were complied with and implemented, issued a decision to secretly kill some of the Croat prisoners whom he labeled as “extreme”. The accused is also charged that he issued orders to take the prisoners to perform forced labor at the frontline, knowing full well that such a treatment was impermissible and unlawful, for it put their lives in danger, in which way he subjected them to inhumane treatment.