Bosnian Serb Ex-Soldiers Charged with Executing 78 Civilians
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Kljuc. Photo: Armin Ćehić
The Bosnian state prosecution on Friday charged Ilija Krcmar, Bosko Uncanin, Svetislav Racic, Zeljko Bajic, Marinko Miljevic, Dragan Despot and two men who both have the name Nikola Cuk with committing crimes against humanity.
They are accused of participating, together with others, in the shooting of at least 78 people during a widespread and systematic attack on the Bosniak civilian population in the Bosanska Krajina area of the municipality of Kljuc.
The indictment alleges that on June 1, 1992, they forced Bosniak civilians who were detained in the Radenko Stojnic school in the village of Velagici out of the building and shot them.
“After forcing them to go out, they ordered the civilians to line up in front of the school, after which the defendants and other people shot at the civilians with automatic weapons, killing at least 78 victims, whose bodies were transported by trucks and buried in a mass grave,” the indictment alleges.
“Immediately after the end of the war, in 1996, their remains were found and exhumed from the Laniste II mass grave [near Kljuc],” it adds.
According to the prosecution, suspect Dragan Despot has a dual citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, Uncanin and Miljevic are Bosnian citizens, while the five other defendants are Serbian citizens.
The indictment has been sent to the state court for confirmation.
