Bosnian priest faces hate charge over Praljak speech

Bosnia’s state court confirmed on Oct. 8 an indictment against Father Petar Barbaric, alleging the Catholic priest glorified Slobodan Praljak after a November 2025 monument unveiling, Balkan Insight reported.

The case matters because Praljak was sentenced in 2017 to 20 years in prison by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia for crimes against Bosniaks, according to the report.

The indictment alleges Barbaric gave the speech at a cemetery in Capljina after the unveiling of a monument to Praljak, a Bosnian Croat wartime commander. The court action follows an investigation opened in November 2025 after an image of the monument circulated.

“The speech was broadcast by various electronic media outlets and internet portals, garnering a large number of views, as well as reactions from the public and citizens,” Bosnia’s state prosecutor’s office said in a statement cited by Balkan Insight.

The indictment charges Barbaric with glorifying a person convicted under a final Hague Tribunal verdict of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Prosecutors say that amounted to the criminal offence of “provoking ethnic, racial and religious hatred, conflicts and intolerance.”

Praljak served as wartime commander of the Main Headquarters of the Croatian Defence Council, the Bosnian Croat wartime military force. In November 2017, the Hague Tribunal convicted him and five other senior officials of the unrecognised Croat-led wartime entity of Herzeg-Bosnia. During the verdict hearing, Praljak took poison and died the same day.

Bosnia tightened its criminal code in July 2021 through amendments imposed by the High Representative, the international official overseeing implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement. The amendments outlawed denial of genocide and other war crimes, and made it punishable to grant honours or erect memorials to people convicted under final verdicts of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

The Capljina monument bears Praljak’s likeness and an inscription identifying him as “Praljak, Croatian General,” along with his birthplace, year of birth and the place and year of his death. Balkan Insight reported no plea by Barbaric or date for the next court step.