Bosnian Serb Police Accuse Bosniak Commanders of War Crimes
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The police department in Trebinje announced on Tuesday that it has sent a criminal complaint to the state prosecution accusing wartime commanders Zulfikar Alispago and Nezim Halilovic of crimes against Serb and Croat civilians in the Konjic area in 1992 and 1993.
The Trebinje police said that Alispago and Halilovic are suspected of having planned and attacked the village of Donje Selo in the Konjic area on April 19, 1993, persecuting the local population and destroying their property.
“All of that also resulted in the murder of four Serb civilians, namely Zoran Kuljanin, Nedjo Golubovic, Obren Ristic and Petar Vukosav,” the police said.
According to the police, Alispago was the commander of the Bosnian Army’s Zulfikar Special Purposes Squad, while Halilovic was the commander of the Fourth Light Muslim Brigade of the Bosnian Army.
The police also accused the two men of having abetted and ordered the persecution and detention of Serbs and Croats in the wartime Celebici, Musala and Tarcin detention camps, where more than 2,000 people were held at various points in time.
The state prosecution will now review the complaint and decide whether to open an investigation inti Alispago and Halilovic.
Alsipago is already on trial in Sarajevo for allegedly failing to take measures to punish subordinates who participated in murder of 18 civilians and four Croatian Defence Council fighters during an attack on the village of Trusina on April 16, 1993.
Alispago was originally accused along with five other Bosnian Army troops, Mensur Memic, Dzevad Salcin, Senad Hakalovic, Nedzad Hodzic and Nihad Bojadzic. But the proceedings against him were separated from the others in March 2014 after he fell ill, and his trial only restarted in May last year.
Memic, Hodzic and Bojadzic were sentenced to a total of 37 years for the Trusina killings, while Salcin and Hakalovic were acquitted.
