Appellants, officers of the Army of the Republika Srpska, were convicted by the Trial Chamber for, inter alia, aiding and abetting the war crimes and crimes against humanity of murder, extermination, and persecutions. The Appeals Chamber rejected the appellant’s grounds of appeal pertaining to aiding and abetting, and affirmed the Trial Chamber’s determination that Blagojevic’s acts of practical assistance (e.g. “co-ordinating, sending, and monitoring the deployment of Zvornik Brigade resources”) had a substantial effect on mass executions and were performed with the requisite knowledge that the acts assisted the commission of specific crimes (¶ 143).
1. Acts “specifically directed to assist, encourage, or lend moral support to the perpetration of a certain specific crime” with a “substantial effect on the perpetration of the crime” (¶ 127)
2. “[K]nolwedge that the acts performed assist the commission of the specific crime of the principal perpetrator” (¶ 127)
ACTUS REUS: The act may include the permission by a commander to use resources under his control to facilitate the perpetration of the underlying crime. The actus reus need not serve as condition precedent for the crime and may occur before, during, or after the principal crime has been perpetrated (¶ 127).
MENS REA: “In cases of specific intent crimes such as persecutions or genocide, the aider and abettor must know of the principal perpetrator’s specific intent” (¶ 127).