The State Election Commission (DIP) said on Thursday that war crimes convict Branimir Glavas can head the HDSSB regional party slate, but that he cannot run in the coming parliamentary elections as a candidate on the party slate.
DIP said on its website that a person sentenced for war crimes to a term of more than six months without the right to appeal, who is a candidate in elections, cannot start their mandate if elected, which makes their candidacy invalid.
Glavas, the founder of the HDSSB, was found guilty of war crimes against civilians in Osijek in 1991 and sentenced to eight years in prison. He is serving his term in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The HDSSB had asked DIP to clarify if Glavas can exercise the passive voting right as the head of the HDSSB slates, as a candidate on a slate, or as the head of a slate and a candidate on it.
In line with the Election Act, draft slates of every party must be complete, namely they each must consist of 14 candidates. Under this rule, a draft list with 13 candidates would be incomplete, DIP said.
Glavas could not be a candidate on the list since "there is no possibility for him to win a term in parliament, which consequently makes it impossible to apply the institute of a representative to stand in for him."
