CASE MAHMULJIN IS SYNONYM FOR MOCKERY OF JUSTICE

"Instead of rotting in prison and serving the shamefully small sentence for the crimes he was convicted of, Mahmuljin was given the opportunity to go to Turkiye, because everyone in the BiH judiciary buried their heads in the sand. According to the information we have, he is in Bakir Izetbegović’s villa in Izmir," Kojić told SRNA.

By: Željka Domazet

ISTOČNO SARAJEVO, SEPTEMBER 13 /SRNA/ – The negligence of BiH judicial institutions when it comes to war crimes against Serbs and the impunity of those who committed them is clear proof that different standards exist in BiH in this area, and the best example is the case of convicted Sakib Mahmuljin, who, by all accounts, will not even serve his shamefully lenient sentence of eight years in prison. Families of murdered Serbs suspect that those who should be punishing criminals are in collusion with perpetrators of Bosniak nationality.

From Republika Srpska, they stress that Mahmuljin, who was finally convicted for war crimes against Serbs in the Ozren and Vozuća areas in 1995, together with all those who protect him, is mocking justice, noting that he is not the only one who, instead of being behind bars, lives carefree somewhere abroad.

The President of the Republic Organization of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians, Isidora Graorac, told SRNA that it is disgraceful that the BiH authorities allowed Mahmuljin to go to Turkiye, which is proof of the shameful posaition toward Serb victims, but also of the impossibility of coexistence in BiH.

“This is proof of the attitude of the Court of BiH toward Serb victims. How can one not suspect that all those criminals whose hands are covered with the blood of our holy martyrs and heroes are not in collusion with these judicial institutions – that they allow them everything: from delaying processes, not raising indictments, to enabling them to escape to third countries in order to avoid serving sentences?” Graorac asked.

She reminded that the families of those monstrously killed in the “El Mujahideen” camp in Gostovići, as well as those whose loved ones were found decapitated in a mass grave in the yard of the church in Stog – 17 of them – and especially those who still do not know where the remains of their loved ones are, have been grieving for three decades, visiting places where they were last seen, walking the paths their last steps left behind.

“And Mahmuljin, the only one convicted to a mere eight years, is not in BiH today, not in prison, does not repent for his crimes, does not ask for forgiveness from God or anyone, but enjoys life as if nothing had happened. BiH allowed him to leave and avoid serving this minimal sentence, since they could not completely acquit him given the evidence of crimes in the monstrous camp under his command. They sentenced him – and then let him go,” Graorac noted.

She stressed that Mahmuljin, responsible for crimes committed 30 years ago, now enjoys life in some world metropolis instead of prison, while families of those whose heads were cut off by mujahideen remain silent in their condemnation because they wonder what is the point of speaking out when the Court of BiH does nothing to change the situation.

“We speak, they remain silent. Until when? Until he dies, like Andrija Artuković, who never spent a day in prison for crimes against Serbs in the Second World War,” Graorac said.

She concluded that history is repeating itself, but unfortunately, Serbs seem to have learned nothing.

“The executioners are free, and our loved ones lie decapitated in the ground or remain missing. That is the fate of the Serb people – to suffer without anyone being held accountable. The only unavoidable justice is God’s. There is no land on earth that can hide these villains – God has a special place for them where they will curse the day they were born,” Graorac said.

She added that earthly courts, judges, and all those who watch in silence bear the shame of allowing a different standard toward victims and their tormentors.

“As long as this is the attitude toward Serb victims, there will be no coexistence here,” Graorac concluded.

BiH JUSTICE AND INSTITUTIONS BURY THEIR HEADS IN THE SAND ABOUT MAHMULJIN

The President of the Municipal Organization of Families of Captured and Fallen Soldiers and Missing Civilians of Srebrenica, Branimir Kojić, reminded that more than three years have passed since Mahmuljin, a convicted war criminal, fled BiH, where killing Serbs is treated as “heroism” rewarded with a visa to the wider world.

“Instead of rotting in prison and serving a shamefully small sentence for the crimes he was convicted of, Mahmuljin was given the chance to go to Turkiye because everyone in BiH’s judiciary buried their heads in the sand. According to the information we have, he is staying at Bakir Izetbegović’s villa in Izmir,” Kojić told SRNA.

He noted that most indicted Muslims are free while on trial.

“I state responsibly that they will all be acquitted because this judiciary is nothing but a diseased tissue of society and a criminal offspring of the Hague Tribunal, which massacred the Serb people with its verdicts. We are aware that the Court and Prosecutor’s Office of BiH are everything but independent. They are a weapon against the Serb people – only not artillery. Their weapon is sophisticated and its name is letahl indictments and verdicts,” Kojić said.

He stressed that Serbs are tried for war crimes, for denying the “false genocide,” for respecting the Constitution of Republika Srpska, even for simply existing in BiH, where, he said, there is clearly no place for them.

“That is why the only solution is independence and peaceful secession, so that we can live a life worthy of a human being!” Kojić emphasized.

NO ANSWERS FROM TURKIYE, AND INTERPOL WITHOUT INFORMATION

In April, three years passed since Mahmuljin, former commander of the Third Corps of the so-called Army of BiH, was finally sentenced to eight years in prison for crimes committed against Serbs in Vozuća and Zavidovići. Instead of prison, in November of that year he went to Turkiye.

That the families’ suspicions were justified is shown by the fact that BiH institutions still do not know where he is.

The Court of BiH told SRNA that the Ministry of Justice of Turkiye replied that they failed to locate Mahmuljin in Turkiye and had no information from Interpol about his whereabouts abroad.

"The Court of BiH, via the Ministry of Justice in the Council of Ministers, addressed the competent authorities of Turkiye with a request regarding the location and extradition of convicted Sakib Mahmuljin. Afterwards, the Court received a reply from the Ministry of Justice of Turkiye that they could not locate him. The Court has no information from Interpol about Mahmuljin’s location abroad,” the Court of BiH stated.

The Ministry of Justice in the Council of Ministers stated that the Court of BiH had information that Mahmuljin was in Turkiye.

They explained that the request for extradition had been sent through diplomatic channels and that, according to information from the BiH Embassy in Ankara, the request with the extradition documentation was delivered to the competent Turkish authorities on February 28, 2023.

"According to the notification of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs of August 31, 2023, received through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs /in the Council of Ministers/, the location of the wanted Mahmuljin in Turkiye has not yet been established," emphasized the Ministry of Justice in the Council of Ministers.

The Ministry pointed out that it depends solely on the competent Turkish authorities whether Mahmuljin will be extradited to BiH, and that once a decision on the request is received, the public will be informed.

On November 28, 2022, the Court of BiH issued an order for an international warrant to be published for Mahmuljin after he failed to report to serve his sentence. Following the issuance of the international warrant, the Court of BiH also sent a request to Turkiye for the extradition of the convicted Mahmuljin. However, he has not yet been extradited.

In August 2022, the Court of BiH said that Mahmuljin had not been sent to serve his sentence, given that, according to information provided by his lawyer, he was "undergoing medical treatment in Turkiye."

More than three years later, neither is it known where the convicted war criminal is, nor is there any hope that he will appear behind prison walls.

On November 29, 2022, Interpol issued a red notice for Mahmuljin.

The notice was issued after the BiH Directorate for the Coordination of Police Bodies received the order of the Court of BiH. Mahmuljin was supposed to appear before the Court of BiH on November 23, 2022, to collect the admission act for the commencement of his sentence.

TRIAL CHRONOLOGY

Mahmuljin’s trial began in March 2016. The Court of BiH initially convicted him and sentenced him to 10 years for failing to prevent and punish crimes committed by members of the “El Mujahideen” unit, which was under his command.

The Appeals Chamber in September 2021 overturned the verdict, and a retrial began in November 2021. It concluded in April 2022, with a final sentence of eight years in prison.

He was convicted of failing to prevent killings and inhumane treatment of prisoners of war, the wounded and sick, and Serb civilians in the Vozuća and Zavidovići areas.

The “Farz 95” and “Uragan 95” operations on the Vozuća battlefield, carried out by the so-called Army of BiH alongside mujahideen from “El Mujahideen” unit, were accompanied by the most massive ritual beheadings in the history of warfare.