Pursuant to the first-instance verdict of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. X-KR-06/298 dated 19 September 2007, the accused Krešo Lučić was found guilty of the criminal offence of Crimes against Humanity in violation of Article 172, paragraph 1, subparagraphs e), f) and k) of the Criminal Code of BiH (the CC of BiH), in conjunction with Article 180, paragraph 1, and Article 29 of the CC of BiH, and was sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment.

Pursuant to the Decision of the Appellate Panel, No. X-KRŽ-06/298 dated 3 April 2008, the appeals filed by the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the defense counsel for the accused Krešo Lučić were granted, and thus the verdict of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, No. X-KR-06/298 dated 19 September 2007, was revoked, and a decision was rendered to try this case before the Appellate Division Panel, Section I for War Crimes of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

After the trial was completed before the Appellate Panel of the Court a final decision was rendered acquitting the accused Krešo Lučić of charges that he committed the criminal offence of Crimes against Humanity under Article 172, paragraph 1, subparagraphs e), f) and k) of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina in conjunction with Article 180, paragraph 1 and Article 29 of the CC of BiH.

More precisely, having thoroughly reviewed all the evidence adduced by both the prosecution and the defense, including the documentary evidence, the Court found that the Prosecutor’s Office failed to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the accused Krešo Lučić committed the criminal offences charged against him at the time, in the place and in the manner as stated in the Indictment, namely that either as a superior officer or a direct perpetrator, within a widespread or systematic attack directed at the municipality of Kreševo, knowing of such an attack, as the Kreševo military police commander, he undertook the referenced actions as stated in the Indictment, that is, that he committed the criminal offence of Crimes against Humanity.

The Appellate Panel also did not find proven the existence of some other criminal offence under Chapter XVII of the CC of BiH concerning the individual charges. Thus, as regards Count 1 of the Indictment, the Prosecutor's Office failed to prove through the presented documentation that the accused was ”a link in a chain” of the system based on which people were incarcerated in so-called “detention centers” such as the Šunje hangar and the Kreševo Elementary School, while detainees from those centers were taken to perform forced labor.

The same refers to the charges under Counts 2, 3, and 4 of the Indictment in relation to which it was undoubtedly found that civilians were tortured in the foregoing centers, in particular in the Šunje hangar where the detention conditions were poor, since the detainees did not have enough food or water,  sanitary conditions were very bad, and no adequate medical assistance was provided to them. However, it was not proved, beyond any reasonable doubt, that it was exactly the accused who did all that.

Therefore, through the application of the in dubio pro reo principle, meaning that facts to the detriment of the accused have to be proved with absolute certainty while, on the other hand, facts in favor of the accused are to be taken as established, even if they are only probable, the accused Krešo Lučić was eventually acquitted of charges.

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