The retrial of a former Bosnian Army commander Naser Oric and member of his group Sabahudin Muhic, charged with crimes against Serbs committed in the vicinity of Srebrenica, will begin on September 3 before the Appellate Chamber of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Oric's defence attorney Lejla Covic confirmed.

In October 2017, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina released Oric, the former commander who commanded the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) forces in the Srebrenica enclave in eastern Bosnia, and Muhic, a member of Oric’s forces, in the first instance verdict. Back then, the two were accused of detaining three Serbs who were killed in Zalazje, Lolici and Kunjerac settlements.

The Prosecution requested from the Appellate Chamber to annul the first instance verdict which acquitted Oric and Muhic of all charges and that the trial be renewed. They also filed a complaint alleging a substantial violation of criminal procedure provisions and an incomplete and incorrectly established factual situation.

Both defences suggested that the Prosecution’s appeal be rejected in its entirety and that the first-instance verdict of October last year be confirmed, saying that the Prosecution's complaint was “confusing, vague and incomprehensible.”

The Appellate Panel subsequently abolished the acquittal and ordered the maintenance of the renewed procedure.

The Hague Tribunal acquitted Oric in 2008 of responsibility for the crimes committed in Srebrenica.

The Hague Tribunal is short for The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) which was a United Nations court of law that dealt with war crimes that took place during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s.