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A court in the American town of Greensboro, North Carolina, has pronounced Veselin Vidacak guilty of giving false data about his military service to immigration authorities.
According to findings of local authorities, the 32-year-old Bosnian Serb was a member of Zvornik Brigade of the Republika Srpska Army during the war in BiH, including 1995. He did not mention his membership in this unit when he filled out the immigration forms upon entering the USA.
According to American law, Vidacak faces 30 years imprisonment or deportation for this felony.
The State Prosecution in Sarajevo cannot confirm whether an investigation has been initiated against Vidacak, and whether there is a request for his referral to BiH.
Last year the USA deported Goran Bencun, Zdravko Bozic and Mladen Blagojevic to BiH for giving false personal data. All three are former members of the Republika Srpska Army suspected of involvement in the attack on Srebrenica.
Bencun was later released, but a joint indictment was raised against Bozic and Blagojevic and their trial got underway on 20 April. The same indictment also charges Zeljko Zaric and Zoran Zivanovic, who were arrested in BiH.
During Viducak’s three-day trial, he confirmed that he was a member of the Republika Srpska Army, but he also said that he had been wounded after the fall of Srebrenica and that he had not participated in the events that led to the deaths of some 8,000 of Bosniaks.
Vidacak’s attorneys have presented medical reports which confirmed this statement.
The court has proclaimed that it will hand down a verdict in August.
Two more Bosnian Serbs, Milivoje Jankovic and Ugljesa Pantic, should appear before the same court to face similar allegations.
Lat year, the American authorities arrested 26 Bosnian Serbs who have been indicted forgiving false personal data to the US immigration authorities.
According to local media reports, one of the key witnesses at the trial in Greensboro was Richard Butler, former prosecution investigator at the Hague tribunal, who currently works for the US Homeland Security immigration office, in a unit that investigates claims concerning those resident in the USA who are suspected of human rights abuses.
During his time in The Hague, Butler was involved in investigations of participants in the Srebrenica massacre and the role of Zvornik Brigade. Among the collected documentation, there is a paper confirming Vidacak’s membership in this unit.
