Bosnia Stages War Crimes Mass Arrest

The State Investigation and Protection Agency detained the eight men on Thursday on suspicion of participating in the expulsion of Bosniak civilians from the villages of Vragolovi, Golubovici and Karacici in the municipality of Rogatica in September 1992.

Those arrested were named as Radomir Markovic, Mile Kusic, Dragan Bozovic, Sasa Perkovic, Radomir Gluhovic, Pero Radovic, Ilija Vukasinovic and Milos Vukasinovic.

“The suspects carried out expulsion and looting, and when they found around 20 civilians in a garage in the territory of the village of Karacici, among them women and children who hid there, they moved them to a nearby barn, where they locked them up, after which Mile Kusic opened up a burst of gunfire from an automatic weapon and killed all the prisoners,” the Bosnian state prosecution said in a statement.

The prosecution added that the barn then caught fire and the remains of four people were found in the charred ruins, while the bodies of remaining victims are still being sought.

The statement said that Ilija Vukasinovic was also suspected of killing a Bosniak man during the attack on the village of Kramer Selo near Rogatica, while Kusic is suspected of firing an automatic weapon at a Bosniak’s legs while demanding that he hand over his gold and other valuables.

“Mile Kusic, Ilija Vukasinovic and Sasa Perkovic are suspected of forcing illegally detained civilians from Kramer Selo and Rakitnica to go towards Han Stjenica and the school building, separating the men from the women and children, after which the women and children were illegally locked up and most of the men were killed,” said the prosecution, adding that most of the men’s bodies had not yet been found.

The prosecution said that after the suspects were questioned, it would decide whether to request that they be remanded in custody.