Former Srebrenica Defendant Sues Bosnia for Compensation

The former deputy commander of the Sixth Battalion of the Bosnian Serb Army’s Zvornik Brigade, Marko Milosevic, is suing the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, seeking compensation for the time he spent in detention and for damage to his health.

Milosevic told the Bosnian state court on Friday that he was arrested in 2012 and kept in custody for ten months, after which he was released under restrictions.

“It was hard for both me and my family. I suffered severe mental distress. I was always convinced that my detention was unjustified. They mentioned my name often, they said I committed genocide. I simply could not believe it,” Milosevic said.

He said that he faced unpleasant situations after his acquittal, and was insulted in a café in the town of Zvornik.

Witness Milovan Matic said he had not known Milosevic before the event in the café in Zvornik, where he said one of the guests began screaming and mentioning genocide, and was verbally abusive, though no physical altercation happened.

Expert witness Omer Cemalovic earlier presented his findings and opinion, saying that Milosevic’a health deteriorated and his ability to lead a normal life was impaired because of the accusations.

Milosevic’s attorney, Petko Pavlovic, said the plaintiff maintains that all allegations from the lawsuit are correct. Jelisaveta Plasto of the State Attorney’s Office has asked the Court to dismiss the charges.

The amount of compensation claimed was not specified in the courtroom.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina acquitted Milosevic in January 2018 of committing war crimes on a dam in Petkovci, where several hundred captured Bosniak men and boys from Srebrenica were shot after the town fell to the Bosnian Serbs in 1995.

Milosevic’s commander, Ostoja Stanisic, was sentenced to five years in prison for the crime on October 11.