Sarajevo - The War Crimes Chamber of Bosnia-Herzegovina's state Court in Sarajevo on Wednesday sentenced Bosnian Muslim Zijad Kurtovic to 11 years jail for war crimes against Bosnian Croats during the 1992-1995 war. Kurtovic, 41, was found guilty of having acted against Croat civilians and prisoners of war as a member of Bosnia's Muslim- dominated army. The court found his crimes in the vicinity of the southern city of Mostar in 1993 to have directly violated the provisions of the Geneva Conventions.
As commander of military police of the 4th Corps of the army in October 1993, during the 1992-1994 Muslim - Croat conflict within the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kurtovic tortured a number of Bosnian Croat civilians and war prisoners in the village of Donja Dreznica near Mostar, according to the indictment.
The indictment also said he detained them in a local Roman Catholic Church, where he beat the detainees with bats, crosses and statues of saints. He had also forced detainees, according to the indictment, to eat pages from the Bible and other religious books.
Kurtovic also used Croats as human shields on the frontlines in fighting between the Bosnian Army and the Bosnian Croat Militia (HVO). The indictment also listed sexual abuse and various forms of torture among his crimes.
