Halilovich, Sefer

Service at JNA

Halilovich was born on January 6, 1952 in the village of Tashev in the Priepol community in Sandzak , populated mainly by Muslims . In 1971 he entered the military academy in Belgrade , and in 1975 he trained at the military school in Zadar , where he became an officer of the JNA . August 31, 1990 he moved to Belgrade, where he attended two-year courses of the school of commanders. When he left the army in September 1991, he was already a professional officer and had the rank of major . Returning to Bosnia and Herzegovina, he founded the Patriotic League and planned the defense of Bosnia in case of a possible military conflict with the Yugoslav troops.

Bosnian War

On May 25, 1992, the Presidium of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina appointed Halilovic the chief of staff of the Territorial Defense of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina instead of Hassan Efendic , thereby making him the highest ranking military commander of the armed forces of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In the period from May to early July 1992, Halilovich also served as a member of the Military Presidium. After July 1992, he assumed the post of Chief of the General Staff of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina . On August 18, 1992, the Presidium formed the five Army Corps of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On June 8, 1993, a new post of supreme commander was created, it was taken by Rasim Delich . From July 18, 1993 to November 1, 1993 Halilovich held the position of Deputy Commander of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was the chief of staff of the High Command.

Attempts

During the war, Khalilovich more than once disagreed with the political leaders of Bosnia, who, in turn, were probably responsible for the unsuccessful attempts on the life of Halilovich. July 7, 1993 at 14:10, Khalilovich’s apartment was blown up by an explosive device using a remote control. Halilovich, his son and daughter survived, but his wife Mediha and his brother Edin Rondich died. Rondich appeared on the balcony in military uniform at the time when Khalilovich came home for lunch with his family. The assassins apparently mistook Ronditch for Khalilovich and detonated an explosive device.

At the time of the indictment, Halilovich was a minister in the government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the leader of the political party he founded in 1996 - the patriotic party of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was also one of the main critics of the President of Bosnia and Herzegovina Alia Izetbegovic . He was charged by the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia on July 30, 2001. ^[1] Halilovich voluntarily surrendered to the Hague Tribunal on September 25, 2001 and pleaded not guilty. Halilovich received temporary release from custody, in 2001 at the beginning of the trial and from September 5, 2005 to November 14, 2005.

Halilovich was accused of violating the laws and customs of war and murders (the so-called team responsibility ) ^[2] . During the Bosnian forces' Operation Neretva '93, 63 Croatian civilians and military personnel were killed. Bosnian troops liberated the areas of Herzegovina previously occupied by Croatian troops and fought for Mostar . The massacre, which was responsible for Halilovich, occurred in the villages of Grabovitsa and Uzdol in September 1993 . The ICTY prosecutors claimed that he was the leader of Operation Neretva '93, which was conducted by the army of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the area.

The trial of Sefer Khalilovich began on January 31, 2005. The prosecution completed the case on June 2 . The defense lasted from June 27 to July 14, 2005. The parties made their closing remarks on August 30 and 31, 2005. ^[3]

Khalilovich’s lawyer Faruk Baliyagich tried to prove that intelligence agents bribed numerous witnesses to distort what really happened and to make Khalilovich a “scapegoat”. Published in 1997, the book of Khalilovich’s memoirs “Lukava Strategija” ( Russian “Tricky Strategy” ) covers the details of this version.

On November 16, 2005 Halilovich was acquitted on all counts and released from prison ^[4] . The court found that at the time when the killings recognized as war crimes took place in the named settlements, Khalilovich did not have command authority, being only an inspector, therefore he could not be held responsible for them. The verdict of the Hague Tribunal also proved that individuals committed the killings without authorization; therefore, the crime was not planned. The prosecution appealed the verdict. On October 16, 2007, the Appeals Chamber dismissed the appeal of the prosecution and upheld the acquittal issued almost two years earlier by the Trial Chamber ^[5] .

The case of Sefer Halilovich went down in history as a rare case in the practice of the Hague Tribunal, when the accused was fully acquitted.

• 2002 BH Dani article about Halilović (Bosnian)
• 1999 BH Dani interview of Halilović (Bosnian)