He Blessed Praljak's Monument and Called Him "Innocent": A 90-Year-Old Former Franciscan Is Indicted in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina has indicted 90-year-old Petar Barbarić, also known by his monastic name Bonifacije, on suspicion of publicly glorifying Slobodan Praljak - a man convicted with final effect of war crimes and crimes against humanity before the Hague tribunal. The Court of BiH has confirmed the indictment.

The incident dates from November 2, 2025. After Mass at the "St Leopold Mandić" cemetery in Grabovine near Čapljina, Barbarić blessed the monument to Praljak - erected illegally - and gave a speech disputing the Hague verdict. "The court in The Hague, when it comes to General Praljak, is rigged, a political construction, a fraud, a lie. Our Praljak is innocent," he said at the time. The speech was carried by numerous portals and broadcast media and sparked strong public reactions.

For those who have forgotten: in 2017 Praljak was sentenced with final effect to 20 years in prison in the case against the leadership of Herceg-Bosna. After the verdict was read out, he drank poison in the courtroom and died shortly afterwards. That scene went around the world. Eight years later, some people turned it into a monument.

A law imposed by Inzko

Barbarić is charged under Article 145a, paragraph 6 of the BiH Criminal Code, which provides for at least three years in prison for anyone who in any way glorifies a person convicted with final effect of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes. The provision was introduced in 2021 by the then High Representative Valentin Inzko, with amendments that criminalised the glorification of convicted war criminals and certain forms of denying or justifying war crimes and genocide.

That's the paradox of BiH in one sentence: a law against glorifying criminals had to be imposed by a foreigner. Why didn't BiH's own parliament pass such a provision? And five years later, the man in the dock is a 90-year-old who gave a speech, while there's so far neither a name nor an indictment for whoever put up the monument.

The prosecution said the investigation continues, to establish who is responsible for illegally erecting the monument, which appeared at the cemetery in November last year.

Expelled from the order, but not silenced

Barbarić, born in Ljubuški, is a former Herzegovinian Franciscan. He was expelled from the Franciscan order back in 1998 for disobedience to church authorities - he refused to leave the parish in Čapljina even though he had been ordered to move. The Vatican upheld the decision. After the blessing of the monument, the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno confirmed that he is no longer a member of the order, that he is banned from any priestly activity, and that no church authority approved his actions.

The indictment doesn't mean Barbarić is guilty - the Court of BiH will decide that. But the case shows how thin the line is between remembrance and celebration of the convicted in a region where murals and monuments to Hague convicts are not rare. Will anyone younger than 90 answer too - whoever put that stone in the cemetery?