Bosnia Charges 15 Serbs for Zecovi Massacre

The prosecution on Friday charged the 15 suspects, former members of the Bosnian Serb military and police forces as well as members of the local Crisis Committee, with the murders and persecution of Bosniaks in the village.

The suspects were named as Dusan Milunic, Radomir Stojnic, Radovan Cetic, Dusko and Ilija Zoric, Zoran Stojnic, Zeljko Grbic, Zoran Milunic, Bosko Grujicic, Ljubisa Cetic, Rade and Uroc Grujicic, Rajko Grbic, Zdravko Antonic and Rajko Gnjatovic.

The prosecution said the suspects took part in a wide and systematic attack against the Bosniak population of Zecovi.

“They are charged with murders, abuse, rapes and torture, as well as robbery and the destruction of Bosniak property in Zecovi,” it said.

More than 150 people were killed in the attack, among them women, children and elderly people, and the survivors were sent to the Omarska, Keraterm and Trnopolje detention camps where some were killed and others were abused, according to the prosecution.

The 15 defendants are specifically charged with killing 29 men and women in Zecovi on July 25, 1992. Their bodies were buried in a mass grave which has still not been found.

“The consequence of this war crime was that none of the 701 Bosniak residents of Zecovi, from the 1991 census, remained in the village after the war,” said the prosecution.

It said it would call 100 witnesses and experts.

“This is the Bosnian prosecution’s biggest indictment regarding crimes in Prijedor, which is comparable to the complexity of the Hague Tribunal cases,” it said.

The prosecution is also still looking for three other suspects in the case – Jugomir Marcetic, Miodrag Vujicic and Slavko Antonic – and plans to issue international arrest warrants.

The indictment was sent to the Bosnian state court for confirmation.