Bosnia Arrests Four for Wartime Abuses in Janja
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The Bosnian State Investigation and Protection Agency on Tuesday arrested Zoran Bogdanovic, Milan Djokic, Ljubisa Ikic and Branislav Trisic on charges that as members of the Bijeljina and Janja police forces, they took part in a wide and systematic attack on the Bosniak population.
The Bosnian prosecution, which ordered the arrests, believes that Bogdanovic, Djokic, Ikic and Trisic detained civilians and took part in searches in the Janja area.
“Illegally detained victims were abused, detained and beaten. Three people died and many victims suffered physical and mental harm which left a significant consequence on their health,” said the prosecution.
The prosecution suspects the four arrested men of personally beating and abusing civilians.
“As the Bosniak population was persecuted, through daily arrests, detentions and torture, an atmosphere of fear was created. This caused the Bosniaks to leave Janja, and to achieve this they had to pay fees to Bosnian Serb army members,” it said.
The Bosniaks who did not leave Janja, the prosecution said, were taken to do forced labour, held in the Batkovic detention camp and used as human shields on the front lines in Majevica.
One of the suspects, Trisic, is now an inspector in the Intelligence and Safety Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Bogdanovic works for the Brcko district government.
All four men will be questioned by the Bosnian prosecution, which will then decide whether to file a custody motion.
