By Kyle Herda
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina – 15 people have been detained in Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina for their alleged involvements in the torture-murder of 19 people in Bosnia back in 1993. The 15 were detained via a joint effort by law enforcement in both countries.
More than 20 years ago, a train traveling from Belgrade, Serbia to Montenegro, passed through Bosnia and was stopped at the Strpci depot by Bosnian Serb militia members. 18 Bosnian Muslims and a Croat were removed, beaten, and taken by truck to a school gym where they were subsequently stripped, tortured, before being again ushered to a house along the Drina River where they were ultimately shot. The bodies were dumped into the Drina River after, and only three have since been recovered (all in 2010 when Peruac Lake was drained to repair a dam). Only one low-level soldier has previously been convicted for part in this massacre.
Last Friday, a joint operation led to the arrest of 5 Serbs and 10 Bosnians for their alleged involvement in the 19 murders; three names of the 15 detained are of particular importance. First, Luka Dragicevic was a Bosnian general in charge of military operations in the area at the time of the massacre. Second, Gojko Lukic, brother of Milan Lukic, was also detained. Milan Lukic was a Bosnian Serb warlord who is regarded as the mastermind of the ethnic-cleansing that allowed for this massacre, and Milan Lukic was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009 by the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Third, Boban Indjic, a former close associate of Gojko Lukic, was also among the 15 arrested.
These new arrests are the result of a year-long investigation into the massacre. Many have blamed the political systems for failure to arrest those responsible for over 20 years, and now the arrests are met with praise by many. Some, however, are protesting the arrests. Milovan Markovic, father-in-law of “Momir,” claims “[h]e did nothing, no war crimes.” Further, some Serbians may still see the killers as war heroes, and some of the responsible parties have since been involved in business, politics, police, and the army. However, Vladimir Vukcevic, Serbia’s war crimes prosecutor, Bruno Vekaric, Serbian deputy war crimes prosecutor, and Goran Salihovic, Bosnia’s chief prosecutor, all are praising the arrests of these 15 individuals for their alleged involvement in the massacre.
For more information, please see:
The Denver Post – Serbia, Bosnia make 15 arrests in Balkan war massacre – 6 December 2014
The Wall Street Journal – Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina Arrest 15 People for Suspected War Crimes – 5 December 2014
Deutsche Welle – War crimes arrests in Bosnia and Serbia – 5 December 2014
The New York Times – 15 Serbs Are Arrested in Connection With 1993 Massacre – 5 December 2014
