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Five Suspected Bosnian War Criminals Arrested
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By Kenneth F. Hunt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
BELGRADE, Serbia – On Thursday, Serbian authorities arrested five former Serbian troops who allegedly committed war crimes against Roma civilians in 1992.
The arrests were made just hours after the War Crimes Trial Chamber of the Belgrade District Court granted a request to begin an investigation. The spokesperson for Serbia’s War Crimes Prosecution, Bruno Vekaric, confirmed that the arrests were made on orders of the Serbian Interior Ministry. Mr. Vekaric’s press release stated that “Five [persons] were arrested in the swift police action overnight, while another is already in jail serving a sentence on different counts.” The sixth suspect’s war crimes conviction related to an incident that also occurred in 1992 in the village of Sjeverin.
The statement of the War Crimes Prosecutor accused the suspects of various crimes related to the rape, torture, and murder of multiple Roma civilians on July 11, 1992, in eastern Bosnia and western Slovenia.
The six accused persons, allegedly, imprisoned and tortured at least twenty-three Roma civilians in the village of Sjeverin. Several female victims were raped, and some of the male prisoners were forced to have homosexual intercourse with each other. Sjeverin is located in Serbia adjacent to the current Bosnian border.
After being raped and tortured, twenty-two of the civilians were then taken to the village of Hamzic where they were executed on July 11. The suspects used knives and guns to commit the murders. The bodies were buried in a Hamzic pit afterwards. The five arrested suspects remain in custody of the Serbian police. Authorities have not yet released the identity of any of the six accused war criminals, nor the location of the sixth suspect.
For more information, please see:
B92 – Five war crimes suspects arrested – 6 November 2009
Balkan Insight – Serbian Police Arrest 5 War Crime Suspects – 6 November 2009
Radio Srbija – Request for investigation against six war crime suspects – 6 November 2009
Reuters – Serbia charges six for 1992 killings in Bosnia – 6 November 2009
Xinhua – Serbian police arrest five war crime suspects in eastern Bosnia – 6 November 2009
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
BELGRADE, Serbia – On Thursday, Serbian authorities arrested five former Serbian troops who allegedly committed war crimes against Roma civilians in 1992.
The arrests were made just hours after the War Crimes Trial Chamber of the Belgrade District Court granted a request to begin an investigation. The spokesperson for Serbia’s War Crimes Prosecution, Bruno Vekaric, confirmed that the arrests were made on orders of the Serbian Interior Ministry. Mr. Vekaric’s press release stated that “Five [persons] were arrested in the swift police action overnight, while another is already in jail serving a sentence on different counts.” The sixth suspect’s war crimes conviction related to an incident that also occurred in 1992 in the village of Sjeverin.
The statement of the War Crimes Prosecutor accused the suspects of various crimes related to the rape, torture, and murder of multiple Roma civilians on July 11, 1992, in eastern Bosnia and western Slovenia.
The six accused persons, allegedly, imprisoned and tortured at least twenty-three Roma civilians in the village of Sjeverin. Several female victims were raped, and some of the male prisoners were forced to have homosexual intercourse with each other. Sjeverin is located in Serbia adjacent to the current Bosnian border.
The statement also stated that three females were raped repeatedly, sometimes “on a daily basis”. The suspects allegedly kept these three women separate from the other prisoners, in the Serbian villages of Malesic, Petkovic, and Drinjaca.
After being raped and tortured, twenty-two of the civilians were then taken to the village of Hamzic where they were executed on July 11. The suspects used knives and guns to commit the murders. The bodies were buried in a Hamzic pit afterwards. The five arrested suspects remain in custody of the Serbian police. Authorities have not yet released the identity of any of the six accused war criminals, nor the location of the sixth suspect.
For more information, please see:
B92 – Five war crimes suspects arrested – 6 November 2009
Balkan Insight – Serbian Police Arrest 5 War Crime Suspects – 6 November 2009
Radio Srbija – Request for investigation against six war crime suspects – 6 November 2009
Reuters – Serbia charges six for 1992 killings in Bosnia – 6 November 2009
Xinhua – Serbian police arrest five war crime suspects in eastern Bosnia – 6 November 2009
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