London Court Rejects Ganic Extradition Request

Ejup Ganic with his daughter and son after court decission in London

Ganic was freed immediately.

"I have not been provided with any new evidence that could be described as striking or reliable," Judge Timothy Workman said in the courtroom. "These proceedings are brought and are being used for political purposes and as such amount to an abuse of process of this court."

Workman explained that the evidence presented in the courtroom did not justify a change to the 2003 ICTY decision, in which the case against Ganic was dismissed because of insufficient evidence. He added that the evidence showed that the events of May 2 and 3, 1992 amounted to international conflict.

Damir Arnaut, a member of Ganic's defence team and a legal advisor to the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) member of Bosnia's presidency, Haris Silajdzic, told Balkan Insight that Ganic planned to return to Sarajevo this evening. He said: "The court's decision was so clear that to appeal it would be unprofessional...British prosecutors have no intention to appeal it." 

Politicians in Bosnia have also begun reacting to the court's decision in the case, which has caused a significant amount of controversy between Serbia and Bosnia since Ganic's arrest in March.

Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) member of Bosnia's presidency Haris Silajdzic said: "justice has been served", while Zeljko Komsic, the Croat member of Bosnia's presidency, welcomed the "right decision" by the British court, stressing that by this "the policy of a Greater Serbia has suffered another defeat, particularly because all prosecution arguments were rejected and all arguments of the defence team accepted".

Meanwhile, the leader of the Bosnian Serb opposition Party of Democratic Progress (PDP), Mladen Ivanic, told media that the British court "succumbed to the pressure of some British politicians" when it rejected Serbia's request for Ganic's extradition. "The court's decision shows that politics are present everywhere, including in the British judiciary," he added.

The head of the Bosnian Serb Center for War Crimes Research, Janko Velimirovic, said that the London court's decision was "unjust". 

I think that this decision is unjust, but we must not give up, we must insist that he be prosecuted before the local judiciary" in Bosnia, Velimirovic said.

Today's decision comes several weeks after the prosecution and defence presented their arguments in front of the court.

In support of Serbia's claim that Ganic should be extradited to Belgrade to face a war crimes trial, prosecutors presented video material from May 1992 showing the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) convoy in Sarajevo which they consider to be key evidence in their case. They also delivered some 200 pages of documentation and called on three witnesses, two of whom were protected, and one representative from the Belgrade war crimes prosecution.

The defence called 11 witnesses, including prominent human rights activists from the region as well as British historians.

Serbia requested Ganic's extradition based on allegations that Ganic, who was a member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, and president for 48 hours in May the same year, is responsible for an attack on a JNA column as it was leaving Sarajevo.

Serbia suspects Ganic of war crimes related to his alleged involvement in the attack on the JNA column as it was leaving Sarajevo on May 3, 1992. The Serbian prosecution claims that 18 soldiers were killed and 22 wounded in the attack.

Ganic took over the post of president on May 2 and 3 when the presiding president, the late Alija Izetbegovic, was kidnapped by the JNA and held hostage.

The defence claimed that no crime was committed on that day, calling on previous investigations done by the ICTY and an ongoing investigation lead by the state prosecution in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The alleged crime as well as Ganic's role in the incident were previously investigated by the ICTY based on claims from the prosecution in Republika Srpska. The case was dismissed by the ICTY in 2003 because of insufficient evidence. An investigation into the incident is ongoing in Bosnia, and Ganic is considered a suspect in the probe.

The defence also argued that Serbia's request for Ganic's extradition from the UK was not legal, pointing to what they consider a number of mistakes in it. 

They claimed that the case was politically motivated and that, if extradited to Serbia, Ganic would not get a fair trial.

Ejup Ganic was arrested on March 1 at London's Heathrow airport. He was later released on bail.