Indictment against Rasim Delic, former BH Army Commander of the Main Staff, unsealed. He is charged with murders, cruel treatment and rape committed by foreign fighters, so-called mujahedin that he failed to prevent or punish

Former Commander of the BH Army Main Staff pleads not guilty on all four counts of the indictment, in which he is charged – on the basis of command responsibility – for murders, cruel treatment and rapes committed by soldiers under his command, as the prosecutor alleges. The Registry will not appoint the Sarajevo lawyers of his choice as his defense counsel

The prosecution has submitted for confirmation an amended indictment against General Rasim Delic, charging the former commander of the BH Army Main Staff, with the crimes committed by forces under his command in Doljani, Grabovica, Uzdol and Bugojno, in addition to the crimes committed by the mujahedin in Central Bosnia, as alleged in the original indictment

General Rasim Delic’s defense challenges the reliability of BH Army 3rd Corps documents tendered into evidence by the prosecution through Safet Sivro’s testimony. Did the 3rd Corps respond to an attack on Zenica by opening artillery fire ‘on Doboj’ or on ‘the command post of the Doboj Operational Group’?

Former VRS soldier taken prisoner in July 1995 on Mount Ozren testifies about the mistreatment in the Kamenica camp run by the Mujahideen. He described how he was forced to kiss the decapitated head of another prisoner

Velibor Trivicevic is a former medic in the VRS 1st Prnjavor Brigade. At the trial of Rasim Delic, former commander of the BH Army Main Staff, he describes the mistreatment and torture in the Mujahideen camp in Kamenica after his capture on 21 July 1995

Izudin Hajdarhodzic, former assistant commander for intelligence in the BH Army 35th Division describes his visit to the Serb prisoners of war in a camp run by the El Mujahid Detachment in Livade in late July 1995. One of the prisoners was brought in tied with wire to a wooden pole by the Mujahideen, he says

In the cross examination of Izudin Hajdarhodzic, General Delic's defense notes that the 35th division intelligence reports to the superior command, that of the BH Army 3rd Corps didn't mention captured Serbian soldiers and El Mujahid Detachment. The Detachment took part in the operations Spring 2 and Farz

Fadil Imamovic, former assistant commander for security in the 35st Division, part of the BH Army 3rd Corps, testifies for the prosecution at the Rasim Delic trial. The Division command repeatedly asked the civilian authorities in Zavidovici to solve the problems caused by the El Mujahid detachment, he notes. When asked why the civil authorities should deal with military issues, the witness answers that it was ‘an unprecedented case in military practice’

Ismet Alija, former head of Operational Planning Department at the BH Army command post in Kakanj claims that the BH Army General Stuff ordered extensive operations in all fronts in order to help Zepa and Serbrenica survivors, when this was not done by ‘those who were supposed to protect them’

The Trial Chamber trying General Rasim Delic allows the prosecution to put the audio and video recording of a speech Delic made on its list of exhibits. Delic made the speech at 'the farewell feast’ of the El Mujahid Detachment on 1 January 1996 in Zenica

Prosecution witness Hamdija Sljuka testifies at the trial of Rasim Delic, describing his only official visit to the El Mujahid Detachment camp in the Gostovic river valley about 10 km from Zavidovici

In the cross-examination of the former security officer of the BH Army 3rd Corps, Rasim Delic’s defense tried to prove that the intelligence and security organs of the 3rd Corps had been unable to investigate properly crimes committed in their area of responsibility because the security services officers were by and large ‘locksmiths, carpenters or economists’

In the examination of the former security officer in the BH Army 3rd Corps, presiding judge notes that ‘it appears’ the El Mujahideen Detachment had ‘different treatment’ from the other BH Army units

According to Goran Krcmar from the Republika Srpska Missing Persons Commission, who is testifying at the trial of Rasim Delic, the BH Army handed a group of some fifty captured VRS soldiers over to the El Mujahid Detachment on 10 September 1995 in the village of Kesten on Mount Ozren. The indictment alleges that they were probably executed subsequently

Dr Sabiha Silajdzic Brkic, forensic medicine expert from Visoko, testifies at the trial of Rasim Delic, former commander of the BH Army General Staff. She autopsies the remains exhumed in June 2006 from a mass grave in Kamenica near Zavidovici

Ahmet Sehic, former commander of the 5th Battalion in the BH Army 328th Mountain Brigade, testifies at the trial of General Rasim Delic. Members of his battalion captured a group of some fifty VRS soldiers on 11 September 1995 in the village of Kesten on Mount Ozren

Ahmet Sehic, former commander of the 5th Battalion in the BH Army 328th Mountain Brigade, continues his evidence at the trial of Rasim Delic. The captured Serbian soldiers were snatched by Arabs from the BH Army troops in the village of Kesten on 11 September 1995. He is not sure whether the Arabs were members of the El Mujahid Detachment or some other foreign fighter group

Fuad Zilkic, former commander of the BH Army' 328th Mountain brigade testifies at the trial of Rasim Delic. The El Mujahid Detachment members dealt with all the issues in cooperation with Fadil Hasanagic, commander of the 35th division, he says. On Hasanagic's orders, Zilkic often resubordinated his troops to the El Mujahid Detachment where they underwent 'psychological’ preparations for the forthcoming combat operations

General Rasim Delic’s defense brings up a VRS document which says a group of Serbian soldiers captured in the village of Kesten on 11 September 1995 was stopped by ‘Muslim extremists’ on their way to Zavidovici, who then killed the captives and buried them in two mass graves

Ferid Buljubasic testifies at the trial of Rasim Delic, former commander of the BH Army General Staff. Buljubasic, who used to be Delic’s chef de cabinet, corroborates Delic’s defense case

A recording of a speech the former commander of the BH Army General Staff held at the farewell feast for the El Mujahid Detachment on 1 January 1996 in Zenica was today admitted into evidence through protected witness PW-9.

Protected witness at the trial of Rasim Delic confirmed the defense arguments saying that the El Mujahid Detachment were de facto an independent army, although de jure they were part of the BH Army chain of command from 8 August 1993. The defense contends that the crimes ascribed to the El Mujahid Detachment in Central Bosnia were in fact committed by other groups of foreign fighters. The prosecution alleges the El Mujahid Detachment committed those crimes

Former operations officer from security service in the BH Army 3rd Corps testifies at the trial of Rasim Delic. In 1995, he interrogated the captured Serbian soldiers several times. Among them were three VRS soldiers captured by the Mujahideen in the BH operation in Vozuca

At the trial of Rasim Delic, former commander of the BH Army General Staff, the court heard the testimony of Zaim Mujezinovic, former commander of the BH Army 3rdf Corps military police battalion. He testified on the role of the military police in the identification of the criminal responsibility of the members of the armed forces in cases falling under the jurisdiction of military courts

Prosecution witness Muris Hadziselimovic claims that no criminal reports were filed to the district military prosecutor’s office in Zenica for crimes committed by the Mujahideen in the Zavidovici area between 1993 and 1996

Former member of the BH Army Security Service confirms he knew that the El Mujahid Detachment prohibited the BH Army troops to visit the prisoners they held in their camp. The defense points to opposite examples, claiming that reports of the military security service often contained ‘mere rumors’

Protected prosecution witness describes what he lived through in the ten days he spent in the captivity of Mujahideen in the second half of September 1995. “I’ve tried to forget’ those times of ‘delirium’ for a long time

As protected witness DRW-1 refuses testify at the trial of General Rasim Delic, the prosecution wants to drop the rape charges from the indictment. Presiding judge Moloto warns this could jeopardize the rights of the accused

The Trial Chamber hearing the case against General Rasim Delic dismisses ‘in the interest of justice’ the prosecution motion to drop the rape count from the indictment

The Trial Chamber trying Rasim Delic will be visiting the BH State Court in Sarajevo again to hear the evidence of Aiman Awad, former member of the El Mujahid Detachment

Aiman Awad, the last prosecution witness at the trial of former BH Army commander Rasim Delic, describes his journey from a medical school student and humanitarian worker to a Mujahideen. Because of 'exceptional circumstances', the trial temporarily moved to the BH State Court in Sarajevo

Aiman Awad, former member of the El Mujahid Detachment member, continued his evidence at the trial of Rasim Delic, former commander of the BH Army General Staff. Awad described the farewell feast prepared by the BH Army for the Mujahideen as ‘the sourest’ in his life

Aiman Awad, the last prosecution witness at the trial of General Rasim Delic, claims that the El Mujahid Detachment was only formally part of the BH Army chain of command. All decisions were taken by the emir and the shura, the Mujahideen commander and the Mujahideen supreme council respectively. This was because the ‘Army couldn’t be trusted’. The only person the Mujahideen could trust was Sakib Mahmuljin

After the first half of the trial of Rasim Delic, former commander of the BH Army General Staff, his defense calls for his acquittal of the charges of rape; the prosecution supports the motion

Former commander of the BH General Staff is acquitted on charges of rape. The trial continues on 4 March 2008 when the defense will call its first witnesses

In the opening statement, General Rasim Delic’s says that it intends to ‘clarify all the dilemmas’ about the role of the former commander of the BH Army General Staff in the times relevant for the indictment. The first defense witness is Haso Ribo, former commander of the Territorial Defense in Travnik

Defense witness Haso Ribo continued his evidence today, claiming that the El Mujahid Detachment members decided when to join in BH Army operations. In his words, as of 1 April 1995 the detachment was subordinated to the 35th Division and ‘no one else’

At the trial of Rasim Delic, the prosecution cross-examined witness Haso Ribo in an effort to prove that the 3rd Corps exercised command over the El Mujahid Detachment during Operation Farz in September 1995. The witness denied this, noting that the 35th Division was in charge of the Mujahideen. It was better to be politician than a fighter during the war, he concluded

Enver Adilovic, former member of the BH Army 7th Brigade, testifies as General Rasim Delic’s defense case continues. According to him, there were no foreign fighters in that brigade. ‘I never met them or saw them in the units of the 7th Muslim brigade. I never even heard of them’, the witness said

Halim Husic teaches history at the Gazi Husrev-beg religious school in Sarajevo. At the trial of former commander of the BH Army General Staff, he describes how a group of foreign fighters of Arab origin entered BH. This group was the core of the El Mujahid Detachment, set up in July 1993

Halim Husic continues his evidence at the trial of General Rasim Delic. Former deputy commander for morale in the BH Army 306th Mountain Brigade says the foreign fighters deployed in the Biljanska valley in 1992 and 1993 were ‘dogs of war’ who ‘committed organized looting and robberies’

Hajrudin Hubo, former chief of personnel service in the 3rd Corps, testifies at the trial of Rasim Delic. The El Mujahid Detachment didn’t provide information about its members despite requests to do so, he says. What information they did send was incomplete and absolutely useless. ‘What kind of information is it when every name start with Abu’, the witness says

General Rasim Delic’s defense witness confirms that there was a Mujahideen center in Zeljezno Polje near Zepce. The Mujahideen, gathered around Abu Zubeir, were not a part of the El Mujahid Detachment or any other BH Army unit, the witness says

Retired general Vahid Karavelic Vaha contends that Alija Izetbegovic contributed to the pervading lack of discipline in the BH Army and jeopardized its war efforts when he agreed to stimulate financially individuals such as Musan Topalovic Caco and Ramiz Delalic Celo

General Vahid Karavelic contends that the BH Army was ready to deal with disobedient individuals in its ranks but there was no political will to do so. According to the witness, the accused General Delic informed Izetbegovic and members of the presidency about the problems the BH Army faced, but ‘he seldom got answers’

In the words of General Vahid Karavelic, Rasim Delic, former commander of the BH Army General Staff wanted to deal with the Mujahideen because he thought that ’they do more damage than good’, but Delic ‘most probably’ didn’t have the support of the supreme commander Alija Izetbegovic to do this

The Trial Chamber trying General Rasim Delic concluded that the prosecution violated its obligation when it failed to disclose on time a series of documents from the Islamic Cultural Center in Milan. The defense seeks permission from the Trial Chamber to repeat its cross-examination of the prosecution witness through whom the prosecution tendered into evidence the recording of Delic’s address at the ‘farewell feast’ of the El Mujahid Detachment in Zenica

Izet Karahasanovic, former member of the BH Army 328th Brigade, confirmed the defense allegation that a group of some fifty Serbian prisoners captured in the village of Kesten on 10 September 1995 was ‘kidnapped’ by Arab fighters. He wasn’t able to determine what unit they belonged to because he didn’t know whether there were other groups of foreign fighters in that area apart from the El Mujahid Detachment

In his cross-examination, General Delic’s defense witness denies it was his responsibility to investigate what happened to some fifty Serb soldiers that were, as he claims, kidnapped by unidentified Arabs on 10 September 1995. He was not able to investigate the incident because ‘there was gunfire everywhere’. According to the witness, his responsibility ended when he reported the incident to his superiors

In the cross-examination of General Rasim Delic’s defense witness, the prosecution wanted to prove that the BH Army General Staff, not the BH Presidency, decided about decorations for the El Mujahid Detachment. This is how it was supposed to be according to the rules, but an exception was made in this case for political reasons, the witness explained

Paul Cornish, who teaches international security at the Royal Institute in London is testifying at the trial of general Rasim Delic. He was asked by the defense to draft an expert report on command and control in modern warfare

In the cross-examination of defense witness Paul Cornish, the prosecutor wanted the witness to corroborate the prosecution argument that the El Mujahid Detachment was part of the BH Army chain of command and control. Cornish teaches international security at the Royal Institute in London

The defense of Rasim Delic, former commander of the BH Army General Staff, today cross-examined prosecution witness PW 9 about the Italian documents belatedly disclosed by the prosecution. The documents show that members of the El Mujahid Detachment sent reports to everybody but the BH Army; this was corroborated today by the witness

Prosecution witness PW9, former member of the El Mujahid Detachment, denies he was under the command of the BH Army, but claims he was its member. In his view, these two claims are not contradictory. The detachment was formally part of the BH Army and ’coordinated’ its activities with the Army units, but was not part of the Army chain of command: it maintained its right to refuse orders issued by BH Army officers

The defense of Rasim Delic, former commander of the BH Army General Staff, decided not call its last witness, resting its case at this trial today. The prosecution and the defense will deliver their closing arguments on 10 June 2008

Evidence has shown 'beyond reasonable doubt' that members of the El Mujahid Detachment were responsible for the crimes in the village of Bikosi in June 1993 and for the killings in the village of Livade and the Kamenica camp in July and September 1995, the prosecutor contends in the closing arguments at the trial of General Rasim Delic. The former commander of the BH Army General Staff knew of the crimes yet he failed to do anything to prevent the Mujahideen, who were part of the BH Army chain of command, and punish them

In its closing argument, the defense calls for the acquittal of General Rasim Delic. The El Mujahid Detachment, the defense notes, reported to the Islamic Cultural Institute in Milan and to the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda. The detachment's relationship with the BH Army was one of ‘cooperation’

At the end of its closing argument, the prosecution calls for 15 years in prison for Rasim Delic, former commander of the BH Army General Staff. Delic is on trial on charges of failure to prevent or punish crimes committed by the Mujahideen in the Central Bosnia

The Trial Chamber today delivered its judgment in the case against Rasim Delic. They decided, with a majority of votes, presiding judge Moloto dissenting, that the former commander of the BH Army General Staff had effective control over the members of the El Mujahid Detachment, but had no knowledge of the crimes they committed, although in one case he had reason to know of their tendency to treat prisoners of war cruelly

At the appellate hearing in the case of General Rasim Delic, the prosecution asked for a harsher sentence for the former commander of the BH Army General Staff. According to the prosecution, the three-year sentence delivered by the Trial Chamber ‘does not reflect the gravity of the crimes’. Arguing that the prosecution’s request was ‘groundless’, the defense requested Delic’s acquittal

The defense of the late Rasim Delic has called for a review of the judgement of the former BH Army Main Staff commander. He was found guilty of failing to prevent and punish the crimes of the Mujahideen. According to the defense, the basis for the review is the ‘bias’ of Danish judge Harhoff shown in his ‘private letter’. The letter was leaked to the press last week

In a response to the motion for a review filed by the defense of the late Rasim Delic, the prosecution argues that the Tribunal has jurisdiction over the accused and convicted persons who are alive, not the deceased. The defense of Rasim Delic, former commander of the BH Army Main Staff, has called for a review of his judgment