Action for Human Rights (HRA) reminded that today marks the 30th anniversary of the war crime against the Klapuh family, which was committed on the territory of Montenegro by members of the Republika Srpska army.
It is the first legally judged war crime in Montenegro, for which only one of the five convicted served the sentence.
"In order for the remaining three convicts, who are still alive, to be brought to justice, it is necessary for the Republic of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to cooperate with Montenegro. For more than six years, Serbia has ignored Montenegro's request to extradite Zoran Vuković, while the final position of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the application of the law against Radomir Kovač and Zoran Simović is not yet known," HRA announced.
Hasan, Ferida and Sena Klapuh were killed in Plužine, on July 6, 1992, by five members of the "Dragan Nikolić" detachment of the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), who were convicted in Montenegro for that unscrupulous murder, qualified as a war crime against the civilian population. back in 1996.
Most of the perpetrators to this day, 30 years after this war crime, have not served a single day of their sentence.
For six and a half years, Serbia has not extradited one of them, Zoran Vuković, to Montenegro, while Radomir Kovač and Zoran Simović, who, like Vuković, were sentenced to 20 years in prison for that crime, are most likely in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The higher court in Podgorica sentenced Janko Janjić, Radomir Kovac, Zoran Simović and Zoran Vuković to 20 years in prison each for war crimes committed in the XNUMXs in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. Their helper from Montenegro, Vidoje Golubović, was sentenced to eight months for not reporting the crime and the perpetrators.
Only Golubović attended the trial, while the others were tried in absentia, because they were on the run. The court established that on July 6, 1992, the defendants transported Hasan, Ferida and their daughter, Sena Klapuh, from Foča to Montenegro for money. When they reached the Mratinje dam, on the Piva river, they stopped, took the father, mother and daughter out of the vehicle, shot them and pushed them down the cliff.
Convicted Vidoje Golubović testified, "I got out of the vehicle and, on Janjić's order, sprinkled sand on the traces of blood that came from Hasan and Ferida. Klapuh Sen's daughter screamed and begged not to kill her and headed towards the dam through the tunnel. They followed her." Zoran Simović and Zoran Vuković ... a shot was heard in the tunnel".
"Convicted Zoran Vuković was arrested in Serbia at the Kotroman border crossing on December 25, 2015, based on the international warrant of Montenegro. Montenegro sent a request for his extradition to Serbia in January 2016. In March of the same year, the High Court in Belgrade determined that all the conditions for extradition to Montenegro were met. However, the Ministers of Justice of the Republic of Serbia did not decide on Vuković's extradition, even after two urgent calls by the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro in September 2018 and July 2020, contrary to the bilateral agreement between the Republic of Serbia and Montenegro on extradition, according to which Serbia had to "as soon as possible" decide on Montenegro's request and inform it about it", HRA reminds.
Action for Human Rights (HRA), after two emergencies and a complaint to the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Protection of Personal Data of the Republic of Serbia, received a response from the Ministry of Justice of the RS in November 2020 that the extradition procedure is "still in progress". The HRA asked the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Serbia, Maja Popović, on four occasions - in February, June and October 2021 and at the beginning of July 2022 - for answers as to why the extradition procedure has been going on for more than six years, although the court confirmed that all conditions were met, but they did not receive an answer.
"If Vuković were to be extradited, he would have the right to have his trial repeated, because he was convicted in absentia (Art. 431 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro). He certainly had to be released from extradition custody before the end of 2016, because according to the Law on international legal assistance in criminal matters of Serbia, this type of detention can last for a maximum of one year. Now we do not know where he is. The other convict, Radomir Kovač, has been at liberty since July 2013, since after serving his sentence he was convicted by the Hague Tribunal for the crimes in Foča and returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Foča. Montenegro first issued a national warrant for him in April 2014, and then an international warrant in February 2015."
The HRA states that they were informed by the former Minister of Justice, Human and Minority Rights, Vladimir Leposavic, in February 2021 that the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro sent a request to the Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina only in December 2020 for that country to take over serving the prison sentence for Kovač.
"However, in April 2021, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina refused to enforce the judgment in relation to him, because the bilateral Agreement on mutual enforcement of court decisions in criminal matters between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro stipulates that enforcement will not be undertaken when the court decision (the enforcement of which requested) brought in the absence of the convicted person. Recently, in a letter to the new Minister of Justice, Marko Kovač, the HRA proposed as a possible solution to the problem the transfer of the criminal prosecution of the convicted perpetrators of this crime to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in order to prevent them from being practically amnestied for the committed war crime".
In relation to the third convict, Zoran Simović, Montenegro also issued an international warrant. The Police Directorate of Montenegro established that he has a registered residence in BiH, but that his current whereabouts are unknown.
The fourth convict, Janko Janjić, committed suicide in 2000 during an attempt by SFOR members to arrest him based on the indictment of the Hague Tribunal.
"The Klapuh case shows that the issue of transitional justice for victims of war crimes is an issue that transcends the borders of one country and that international cooperation is necessary to bring the perpetrators of war crimes in the territory of the former Yugoslavia to justice. We expect the Government of Montenegro to insist that Serbia respond why has it been preventing the extradition of Zoran Vuković, who was convicted of war crimes against the Klapuh family for six and a half years. We also expect the Ministry of Justice of Montenegro to take new steps towards Bosnia and Herzegovina, in order to ensure that both Radomir Kovač and Zoran Simović finally responsible for the crime. Action for Human Rights, together with the Center for Women's and Peace Education ANIMA, on the occasion of the already traditional tour of war crimes sites on National Day on July 14, will lay flowers on the Obrad Cicmila bridge in Plužine and pay tribute to the victims," it is stated in HRA announcement.
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