| Press Release |
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| (Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document) |
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The Hague, 20 December 1999
JL/P.I.S./456-e
Stanislav Galic detained by SFOR in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) welcomes the detention of Stanislav Galic by elements of SFOR on Monday 20 December 1999.
Stanislav Galic, has been charged on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility and his command responsibility with four counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of violations of the laws or customs of war for his part as Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army’s Romanija Corps between 1992 and 1994. The charges relate to the deliberate campaign of shelling and sniping of the civilian population of Sarajevo by forces under his command. The indictment states that,
"For forty-four months, the Sarajevo Romanija Corps implemented a military strategy which used shelling and sniping to kill, maim, wound and terrorise the civilian inhabitants of Sarajevo. The shelling and sniping killed and wounded thousands of civilians of both sexes and all ages, including the elderly.
The Sarajevo Romanija Corps directed shelling and sniping at civilians who were tending vegetable plots, queuing for bread, collecting water, attending funerals, shopping in markets, riding on trams, gathering wood, or simply walking with their children or friends. People were even injured and killed inside their own homes, being hit by bullets that came through the windows. The attacks on Sarajevo civilians were often unrelated to military actions and were designed to keep the inhabitants in a constant state of terror."
Madame Carla Del Ponte, the Prosecutor of the ICTY welcomed this most recent detention. In a statement she said:
"This latest arrest of a retired Major General in the Bosnian Serb Army is in line with my policy of targeting senior figures in the chain of command for crimes committed during periods of armed conflict.
General Stanislav Galic is indicted as a former Commander of the Sarajevo Romanija Corps for crimes alleged to have been committed during a campaign of shelling and sniping in Sarajevo. His arrest is also in keeping with my policy of seeking sealed indictments and not publicising the existence of arrest warrants.
I commend SFOR for their significant contribution to international justice in carrying out the detention and transfer of persons indicted before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia".
A time and date for Galic’s initial appearance, at which he will enter a plea to the charges against him, will be set in due course.
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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
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