7 Years For Crimes Against Croats In Sarajevo

Croat civilians from the Ilidza area were robbed, abused and displaced.

The County Court in Sarajevo, presided by Judge Jasmina Kosovic sentenced a retired policeman, Borislav Berjan, from Doglode to seven years in prison for war crimes against civil residents in the areas of Bare, Doglode and other villages in the territory of the Ilidza municipality. 

The sentence read by Kosovic reported that Berjan, aiming to the ethnic cleansing of the non-Serb population, personally participated in the arming of the Serb population in Dolgode, and as commander of the troops he personally took part in the robbing, tormenting and illegal deprivation of freedom, and that he ordered the liquidation of civilian and war prisoners in the area of the Ilidza municipality.

He commanded his troops during the siege and aggression on the villages of Bare and Doglode, when he captured around 20 Croat civilians and police.

The police officers were badly physically abused, they were kicked and beaten with the rifle butts, and then taken to a primary school in Osijek and after that to a police station in Ilidza.

The  Croat civilians were taken out and abused, and at the end they were ordered to move to Kiseljak. Berjan also took part in the looting of the Croat civilians’ houses.

It was specified that Berjan took part in the robbery and the beating up of the Croat civilian brothers Madzuka and their mother Janja. The Madzuka brothers were taken to Rajlovac camp where they disappeared, but their bodies were exhumed after the end of the war.  Berjan was present when the members of his unit heavily abused Boza Bagaric in Doglode, he organised the transportation of the looted goods, he controlled the movements of the civilian population, he looted cars, agricultural machinery…

After the sentence was communicated, Berjan said that he did not want to hear injustice, and that he felt poorly because of high blood pressure so he was taken away from the court room and did not hear the explanation.

Judge Kosovic separately stressed in the explanation Berjan’s responsibility as commander, and also reported that the inhabitants of the Doglode area called him “Commander” and “Vojvoda” (meaning 'war lord').

The court advised the civilians who were harmed by Berjan to level civil law suits. Berjan’s sentence also includes the time he has already spent in detention from May 31,  2007.