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DE RUEHVJ #1329 1601744
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O 091744Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE IMMEDIATE 0078
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3750
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW IMMEDIATE 0028
RUEKJCS/JCS WASHDC IMMEDIATE
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SARAJEVO 001329 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR (DICARLO), EUR/SCE (FOOKS, MITCHELL), L/EUR 
(K. JOHNSON), EUR/RUS (GRODELSKI, WARLICK), D (SMITH), P 
(BAME), S/WCI (WITTEN, LOSS), INR (BRAUM), USUN (WILLSON), 
THE HAGUE (SCHLIDGE, C. JOHNSON), NSC FOR BRAUN, USNIC FOR 
WEBER, GREGORIAN, OSD FOR FLORY 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2011 
TAGS: KWAC PHUM PGOV PREL RS BK
SUBJECT: BOSNIA: STATE COURT ORDERS WAR CRIMINAL ZELENOVIC 
TRANSFERRED TO THE HAGUE ASAP 
 
Classified By: Amb. Douglas McElhaney.  Reason 1.5 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (U) On June 9 an international judge at the BiH State 
Court ruled that accused war criminal Dragan Zelenovic should 
be transferred immediately to The Hague for trial.  The State 
Court based its ruling on the International Criminal Tribunal 
for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indictment, the INTERPOL 
warrant issued January 12, 2006, UN Security Council 
Resolution 827, the ICTY Charter Article 29(2), and Bosnia's 
constitutional duty to fulfill their international 
obligations.  This will be a "transfer," not an extradition 
or removal.  The distinction is important, because 
classifying the case as a deportation would have allowed have 
Zelenovic to challenge the ruling for months within the BiH 
courts.  NATO in BiH confirmed that it will take custody of 
Zelenovic and fly him to Rotterdam airport June 10 in the 
afternoon, where it expects the transfer to ICTY authorities 
to go smoothly.  In the meantime, Zelenovic is being held at 
the BiH State Court Detention Unit in Sarajevo. 
 
¶2. (C) In April 1992, the ICTY indicted Zelenovic, a former 
Bosnian military police commander, for seven counts of crimes 
against humanity and seven counts of violations of the laws 
of war for his involvement in multiple cases of rape, gang 
rape, and facilitating rape and torture in the town of Foca 
during the 1992-95 war.  He remained a fugitive until August 
2005 when he was apprehended and detained by Russian 
authorities in western Siberia.  Russia initially agreed to 
extradite Zelenovic to The Hague directly, but following the 
death of Slobodan Milosevic the government insisted that it 
would only transfer Zelenovic on condition that he go first 
to Bosnia. 
 
¶3. (C) On June 8, Russian authorities escorted Zelenovic to 
Sarajevo, where he was taken into Bosnian custody and brought 
to the State Court at 4 PM local time.  According to the 
ICTY, the Russians insisted, as a condition of the transfer, 
that Zelenovic undergo some "process" in BiH and not be 
turned over directly to the ICTY.  The Bosnians wisely 
fulfilled this in the quickest and simplest manner. 
Immediately upon his arrival, the court held a brief hearing 
and ruled that Zelenovic could legally be held in custody for 
up to thirty days.  The Court held a substantive hearing at 
11:30 AM the following day.  A Swedish judge presided and 
Deputy BiH Prosecutor for War Crimes Marinkovic successfully 
argued for sending Zelenovic on his way expeditiously, based 
upon Bosnia's legal obligations under the various 
international instruments noted in paragraph 1. 
 
¶4. (C) Comment: Today's precedent-setting decision was as 
important for Bosnia as it was for Zelenovic.  The Russian 
demand that he enter Bosnian custody, probably motivated by 
domestic political optics, put the onus on BiH authorities to 
succeed or fail at sending him on to The Hague.  Local 
authorities were careful to handle the case in full 
accordance with the law, particularly concerning the basis 
for custody, but were also responsive to ICTY's concerns 
about expediency.  According to Deputy Prosecutor Marinkovic, 
neither the government nor political party members tried to 
interfere behind the scenes.  The ICTY Sarajevo 
representative told Embassy that even Zelenovic's defense 
attorney appeared to accept the decision as final without a 
fight.  Today's case demonstrates that Bosnia is committed to 
fulfilling its international obligation to cooperate with the 
ICTY, that the USG's decision to fund construction of the 
Court Detention Facility was a wise investment, and that the 
State Court War Crimes Chamber has developed mature and 
sensible procedures for accomplishing that task. 
MCELHANEY