Trial of former Bosnian Army general Atif Dudakovic, charged with taking part in alleged joint criminal enterprise during the 1992-95 Bosnian war, commenced on Monday almost a year after the wartime official was apprehended.

The wartime commander of the 5th Corps of then Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was charged along with 16 other soldiers with crimes against humanity committed in the municipalities of Bosanski Petrovac, Kljuc, Bosanska Krupa, Sanski Most and war crimes committed against civilians in the northwestern municipalities of Bihac and Cazin.

They were also charged with persecution and torturing of the Serb civilians and prisoners of war as well as the destruction of 38 Orthodox shrines, churches and other religious facilities.

On December 21, 2018 all defendants in this case pleaded not guilty.

During the Bosnian war, Dudakovic was in command of the Bihac enclave in the north-west of the country, which was surrounded and besieged from 1992 to 1995 by Bosnian Serb forces, Croatian Serb forces and Bosniak dissenters led by the Bosniak politician Fikret Abdic. During that time, Dudakovic commanded the 5th Corps.

After the war, he became the general commander of the Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) entity, one of two semi-autonomous entities in Bosnia. The other entity is the Republika Srpska (RS).

Part of the indictment against Atif Dudakovic refers to the war crimes committed against Bosniak victims, members and supporters of the ‘People’s Defence of the Autonomous Region Western Bosnia,’ during clashes in the areas of Bihac and Cazin municipalities.

Dudakovic was apprehended in Bihac in April this year in a police operation carried out the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) of Bosnia and Herzegovina.