Bosnia and Herzegovina court indicts friar for glorifying war criminal

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina has confirmed an indictment against Petar Bonifacije Barbarić, a 90-year-old Franciscan friar, for the public glorification of Slobodan Praljak.

According to the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the charges stem from a speech Barbarić delivered on November 2, 2025, at a local cemetery in Čapljina. During the speech, which took place near an illegally erected monument, Barbarić praised Praljak, who was convicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 2017 for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In his address, Barbarić claimed that Praljak had returned to Herzegovina and suggested that the monument was brought by ‘angels’. He also made several controversial statements regarding the Croat-Muslim war, asserting that Praljak’s actions were intended to liberate the region from aggressors and that Croats were acting in self-defense.

Authorities are continuing their investigation to determine who was responsible for installing the monument dedicated to the convicted war criminal.