The trial of two Montenegrin citizens, accused of having committed rape during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, is ongoing before the District Court in Trebinje.
The accused Milutin Đilas has Montenegrin, and Rajko Vojvodić dual - Montenegrin-Bosnian-Herzegovinian citizenship, the court explained to Radio Free Europe (RSE).
The District Prosecutor's Office said that the two regularly respond to court summons and attend the trial.
RSE was unable to get in touch with them.
This is the only case in which Montenegrin citizens are tried for war crimes before this court.
"Until now, there have been no verdicts against Montenegrin citizens regarding participation in war events in Bosnia and Herzegovina," said the Court.
What does the indictment say?
The proceedings before the Court in Trebinje began at the end of February 2024 and are in the stage of presenting the prosecution's evidence.
The indictment charges two Montenegrin citizens with raping two women who were not engaged in the military and did not participate in hostilities in 1992, as members of the Republika Srpska Army.
Đilas is accused of raping two people, and Vojvodić one.
In the indictment from September last year, which RSE had access to, the names of the victims, as well as the place where the rapes were committed, are protected.
According to the indictment, Đilas and another unknown person entered MA's house in April 1992
On that occasion, an unknown person stole several cameras and left, while Đilas stayed.
Đilas went upstairs, where "B" was with a minor child and, when he was sure that there were no men in the house, he raped him.
"Previously, he slapped her twice, pushed her against the wall so that her chest was facing him, and all the while holding her hands against the wall, after which he lifted her skirt and raped her without her consent," the indictment states.
In the same month, he came to the house once more and raped the same woman.
On the same evening, according to the indictment, he raped another woman - MS, who was also with minor children.
"Đilas came over the balcony, armed with a gun and a knife, and told her to send the children to sleep," it said.
When she did that, the accused raped her.
This case is connected to Vojvodić, who, according to the indictment that RSE had access to, raped the victim "B" after Đilas went to MS's house
They are accused of having committed a war crime against the civilian population, for which they face up to 40 years in prison.
"Live normally, peacefully and peacefully in Nikšić"
The Montenegrin public learned about the Đilas trial in June of this year, when a forum was organized in Podgorica where four rape victims in Foča in 1992 spoke.
Foča is in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a city near the border with Montenegro.
One of the forum participants, Halida Konjo Uzunović, spoke about the trial.
She told the audience in Podgorica that she was at the trial in Trebinje, without specifying on what basis.
According to her, she said in court that she was very proud that she was not on the side of those accused of war crimes.
"Who sat with their heads down and had nothing to ask me."
The forum was organized by the Normalize portal, the Center for Women's and Peace Education ANIMA and Women in Black.
Staša Zajović from Women in Black said at the forum that Đilas "lives normally, peacefully and peacefully in the city of Nikšić".
RSE was unable to get in touch with Đilas and Vojvodić.
"Montenegro headquarters" in Foča
The documents of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague describe examples of sexual abuse suspected to have been committed by soldiers from Montenegro in the war years of the 1990s.
Thus, court documents mention that in 1992, a house in the Foča settlement of Aladža served as the "Montenegrin headquarters".
The house was used by Dragoljub Kunarac, the commander of a special volunteer unit made up of "Serbian soldiers, mostly from Montenegro".
"He stayed there with at least 10 Montenegrin soldiers after the capture of Foča," according to the ICTY website.
Two decades later, Kunarac was sentenced to 28 years in prison for torturing, raping and enslaving Muslim women.
He is serving his sentence in Germany.
In 2020, Montenegro received part of the evidence on sexual violence from the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Courts, which is the successor to the tribunal in The Hague, RSE confirmed.
They concern the involvement of more than 15 suspected Montenegrin citizens in crimes during the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Until recently, Montenegro could not use the evidence of the tribunal from The Hague.
That changed in June this year, after the Parliament of Montenegro adopted the necessary changes to the Law on Criminal Procedure.
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