The non-governmental organization Documenta issued a statement on Wednesday in protest against President Zoran Milanovic's decision to award the honorary rank of Brigadier General to Djuro Matuzovic, a former commander of the Bosnian Croat paramilitary HVO who is currently on trial for war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The NGO described Milanovic’s move as “belittling the work of the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina” and “disturbing to survivors.”

In a statement released on Wednesday, Documenta explained that in late 2016 the state prosecutors of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued an indictment against eight members of the Bosnian Croat wartime organization Croatian Defence Council (HVO), including Djuro Matuzovic, which prompted protests from Croatia’s foreign affairs ministry as well as “local Croat authorities” in Bosnia’s Posavina Canton, Croatian state agency Hina said.

Prosecutors accuse the eight defendants of committing war crimes against Bosnian Serbs in the area around the town of Orasje in northern Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the period from late 1992 to July 1993. At the time, they were all members of HVO, local police, or guards at POW camps.

“They are charged with crimes against humanity, by being involved in the persecution of Serbs for ethnic, cultural and religious reasons,” Hina said citing Documenta, without clarifying what the specific crimes were.

The trial before the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina opened in August 2017, and more than 100 witnesses testified before the last hearing was held before the Covid-19 pandemic started in February 2020. The trial resumed in February this year, and another hearing was held on Wednesday, Documenta said.

“Documenta also cited a related case in which Mate Baotic, an HVO military police commander, had been found guilty of inhumane treatment of civilians held in a building that previously housed a primary school in Orasje,” Hina added.

“At a formal ceremony on Wednesday in Zagreb, President Zoran Milanovic decorated 22 Croatian war veterans and a military unit, and also awarded the honorary rank of Brigadier General to seven Croatian Army (HV) officers, including Djuro Matuzovic, for their outstanding service in the 1991-95 Homeland War,” state agency Hina said.

“Holders of honorary ranks are entitled to rank insignia and military honors without the right to issue orders. They are not entitled to any financial or material benefits,” Hina added.