22 Sarajevo Prisoners on Hunger Strike

Prisoners who have been suspected and accused of war crimes demand trial according to SFRJ laws, not BH

In the prison "Kula", in eastern Sarajevo, 22 persons suspected, accused or sentencedfor war crimes have begun a hunger strike.

They claim their human rights have been violated and demand to be tried according to laws of the former Yugoslavia, and not the ones of Bosnia-Herzegovina, because the offences they were accused of were committed during the validity of the Socialist Federate Republic Yugoslavia (SFRJ) laws. They also demand not to be in detention during the trial.

“These are absolutely justified demands and in accordance with all conventions. Even in ancient Rome law was applied which was valid during the act of the felony. Furthermore, Criminal law of Bosnia-Herzegovina of 2003 cannot be applied because it is much more rigorous than the Criminal law of SFRJ. They demand not to be in detention during the trial, as it is the practice in other courts in BH”, said Dusko Tomic, the attorney of a suspect, Zdravko Mihaljevic Pijuk, told the Nezavisne novine daily.

Justice minister: These demands should be considered

Sobodan Kovac, Justice Minister of BH, says he must follow the rule not to comment on decisions of tribunals, but there is an old rule that a felony was not committed if it was not regulated by law.

- There is a principle that the more lenient law is applied for the felony perpetrator. This strike was organised on these grounds. I am not a supporter of hunger strikes as a means of determination of someone`s rights, but these demands should really be considered – said Kovac to Nezavisne novine.

Mirsad Kebo, Minister for Human Rights and Refugees of BH, told Nezavisne novine that, as soon as he was officially informed of the commencement of the hunger strike, he would perform an analysis of all the strikers` demands in relation to the violation of human rights.

The Constitutional Court, Ministry for Human Rrights and Refugees, Ministry of Justice and the Human Rights Ombudsman Office in BH have been informed of the hunger strike at “Kula”, along with the entity ministries of justice and bar associations.