The trial of former Bosnian Army commander Naser Oric began on Tuesday in Sarajevo. Oric, who commanded Bosniak forces in and around Srebrenica, is charged with the killing of three Serb prisoners in 1992; one of his former subordinates, Sabahudin Muhic, is being tried along with Oric.
According to the charges, Oric killed one of the prisoners of war by stabbing him in the neck after hitting him in the leg. He also hit another prisoner who was then killed by Muhic, while the third prisoner was also killed by the soldier, the prosecution alleges.
Oric was tried and acquitted of separate war crimes charges by the ICTY previously. Oric’s defense team argued in the run-up to the current trial that the ICTY acquittal should have made this new prosecution illegal, but the international tribunal responded that the current charges made by BiH are substantially different than those deal with in the Hague.
Several Bosniak politicians and activists have defended Oric ahead of the trial, and have said that the BiH Court is merely trying to mend its reputation for anti-Serb bias. The Court and Prosecutor’s Office have long been accused of prioritizing war crimes cases against Serbs, while ignoring those in which Serbs are the victims.
