Bratunac – Suha: Three Years for the Forcible Displacement of 300 Civilians
On May 13, 2025, the War Crimes Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade delivered a first-instance judgment finding finding Jovan Novaković guilty of the criminal offense of war crime against the civilian population under Article 142, paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), sentencing him to three years in prison – a sentence below the statutory minimum for this offense.
The court established that on June 10, 1992, Novaković, acting as the commander of the Moštanica Territorial Defense Company in Bratunac, forcibly displaced approximately 300 Bosniak civilians from the village of Suha (Bratunac municipality), including women and children. During the attack, Novaković ordered civilians to leave their homes, participated in their removal, and threatened some civilians with death if they did not find and bring other members of their families. The civilians were then marched in a column to the Bratunac football stadium, where civilians from other locations were also brought under armed guard. From the stadium, women, children, and the elderly were deported by buses to the town of Kladanj, while military-age men were detained in the premises of the “Vuk Karadžić” Primary School in Bratunac.
Are you a young person (18–25 years old) from Kosovo
Dear Members of the High Prosecutorial Council,
The Humanitarian Law Center calls on citizens, university and high school students to mark March 24 with a moment of silence lasting 7+5+6 minutes, in memory of the 756 individuals who lost their lives during the 78 days of NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999.
On Friday, March 14, activist and student Lazar Dinić was arrested in Belgrade, while in Novi Sad, members of the Free Citizens Movement (PSG) were detained: Lado Jovović, Marija Vasić, Davor Stefanović, Srđan Đurić, and Mladen Cvijetić. On March 16, the Higher Court in Novi Sad ordered a 30-day detention for these six individuals, and today, searches were carried out at the apartments of activists who are currently out of the country.
On February 28, 2025, the War Crimes Department of the Higher Court in Belgrade delivered a judgement finding Tefik Mustafa guilty of the criminal offense of organizing and inciting to commit genocide and war crimes. He was sentenced to one year in prison.
On February 25, 2025, the Humanitarian Law Center (HLC) filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes of the Republic of Serbia against Milorad Vukašević, Commander of the First Partisan Infantry Brigade of the Army of the Republic of Srpska (VRS), and other members of this unit for killings of 34 Bosniak civilians in June 1992 in Jezero (Jajce municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina).
