Bosnian court sentences 5 men for war crimes 

Sentencing marks another effort by Bosnian judicial authorities to address wartime abuses committed by all sides during the conflict

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (MNTV) — A court in Bosnia and Herzegovina has sentenced five men to a total of 11 years and four months in prison for war crimes committed during the 1992-1995 Bosnian War.

The Cantonal Court in Bihac found Sulejman Sefic, Mehmed Brkic, Senad Sarajlija, Jasmin Coragic, and Ale Mujagic guilty of mistreating captured soldiers from the official Bosnian government army — known as the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) — in the town of Velika Kladusa in 1994.

According to the court’s verdict, the five men were members of the First Brigade of the People’s Defense Force of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia. 

This self-declared province was a breakaway territory led by rebel leader Fikret Abdić during the war, and was not recognised by the central Bosnian government.

The court found that the accused acted inhumanely towards prisoners belonging to the Fifth Corps, a major fighting unit of the ARBiH tasked with defending northwestern Bosnia against both Serb forces and internal rebel groups.

The sentencing marks another effort by Bosnian judicial authorities to address wartime abuses committed by all sides during the conflict, which left over 100,000 people dead and displaced millions.