Čelinac ( sr-Cyrl, Челинац) is a town and municipality in

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, ; also referred to as the Republic of Srpska or Serb Republic) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities within Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other bein ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. As of 2013, the municipality has a population of 15,548 inhabitants, while the town of Čelinac has a population of 5,097 inhabitants.

Geography

It is located along the Jošavka and Vrbanja rivers, between the municipalities of

Laktaši Laktaši ( sr-cyrl, Лакташи) is a city in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, the municipality had a population of 34,966 inhabitants, while the town has a population of 5,879 inhabitants. Geography Physical geogra ...

and Prnjavor to the north,

Teslić Teslić ( sr-cyrl, Теслић) is a town in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the central part of Republika Srpska, on the banks of the Usora (river), Usora River. As of 2013, the town has a population of 7,518 inhabita ...

to the east,

Kotor Varoš Kotor Varoš ( sr-cyrl, Котор Варош) is a town and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013 census, the municipality has a population of 19,710 inhabitants, while the town of Kotor Varoš has a population o ...

and Kneževo (formerly known as Skender Vakuf) to the south, and

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city in Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is the tr ...

to the west.

History

War in Yugoslavia

The main initiator and leader of the persecution of the non-

Serb The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history, and language. They primarily live in Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia ...

population in the valley of the

Vrbanja river The Vrbanja ( sr-Cyrl, Врбања) is a river in Central Bosnia, Bosnia and Herzegovina; with Ugar (river), Ugar, the largest right tributary of the Vrbas (river), Vrbas. Its basin covers an area of approximately 703.5 km2. The Vrbanja has ...

and

Bosanska Krajina Bosanska Krajina ( sr-Cyrl, Босанска Крајина, , ) is a geographical region, a subregion of Bosnia, in western Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is enclosed by several rivers, namely the Sava (north), Glina (northwest), Vrbanja and Vrba ...

, including Čelinac, was a member of the SDS — Radoslav Brđanin, a native of the nearby village of Popovac. Brđanin was a leading political figure in the Autonomous Region of Krajina (ARK). During The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, he was in key positions at the municipal, regional and "republic" level. Among other things, he was the first vice president of the Assembly of the ARK, president of the ARK Crisis Staff and later as acting vice minister of production, minister of construction, traffic and utilities and acting deputy prime minister of

(RS). The

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

(ICTY) condemned him for various crimes to 30 years in prison.http://www.nacional.hr/clanak/33106/smanjena-kazna-bivsem-potpredsjedniku-vlade-bosanskih-srba, publisher=Nacional, title=Smanjena kazna bivšem potpredsjedniku vlade bosanskih Srba. During the War in Bosnia, along with other generally known reprisals, the

local authorities Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

had introduced restrictions for

Bosniaks The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

and

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

, i.e. the non-

population. In addition to those who had experienced this, among other things, bears witness to the indictment against

Radovan Karadžić Radovan Karadžić ( sr-Cyrl, Радован Караџић, ; born 19 June 1945) is a Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnian Serb politician who was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal ...

before the Tribunal in The Hague. At the hearing in 2013, a witness, in response to Nikola Poplašen, stated:

Settlements

Aside from the town of Čelinac, the municipality includes the following settlements: *

Balte Balte ( sr-cyrl, Балте) is a village in the municipality of Čelinac, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.Official results from the book: Ethnic composition of Bosnia-Herzegovina population, by municipalities and settlements, 1991. censu ...