The prosecution will not make its submission as to whether the conflict [in Central Bosnia] was an international or internal one, although they note that in other cases the conflict has been classified as international, it is stated in a written motion of the prosecution in the case against former ABiH 3rd Corps and 7th Muslim Brigade commanders


In the case against former BH Army commanders in Central Bosnia, the prosecution does not want to state its position about the nature of the armed conflict there in 1993, although in other cases dealing with the events in that part of Bosnia, it has taken the stand that it was an international conflict.

The prosecution's view is that all the crimes alleged in the indictment against Enver Hadzihasanovic and Amir Kubura "could have been committed in any armed conflict, be it classified as international or internal."

In the cases against HVO commander Tihomir Blaskic and HDZ politician Dario Kordic, the prosecution was trying to prove – and the trial chambers accepted their arguments – that the conflict in Central Bosnia was international, because of the involvement of Croatia.

If a conflict is determined to be international, crimes are qualified as grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, which are in principle punished more severely than the violations of laws and customs of war with which Hadzihasanovic and Kubura have been charged.

The prosecution did not make their submission about the character of the conflict either in the indictment, or in the course of its case at the trial of the former commanders in the BH Army 3rd Corps. The prosecution filed the above-mentioned motion after a suggestion to that effect made by the presiding judge, Jean-Claude Antonetti. The defense motion on this issue has not been published yet.

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