The Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and HerzegovinaNews
SUSPECT ALEKSANDAR CVETKOVIĆ EXTRADITED FROM ISRAEL TO BIH JUDICIARY
16.08.2013. 08:16
The Suspect Aleksandar Cvetković, a former member of the 10th Sabotage Detachment of the VRS /RS Army/, was extradited from Israel to Bosnia and Herzegovina at the request of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, which is investigating him for his role in the mass killings of captured Bosniaks from Srebrenica in July 1995.
Aleksandar Cvetković is suspected of personally and directly firing a firearm as a member of the firing squad, along with other members of the 10th Sabotage Detachment, thus participating in the killing of more than 800 Bosniak men and boys, on a farm in Branjevo on July 16, 1995.
While investigating this matter, the Prosecutor and investigators of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH found out that Aleksandar Cvetković had left Bosnia and Herzegovina several years ago. In cooperation with Interpol and the Israeli Government he was located in Israel in 2010 following which the Prosecutor's Office of BiH initiated activities for his extradition to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In a 3 year extradition process, the judicial institutions of Israel refused all appeals of the suspect and eventually upheld the decision of the Supreme Court and the Minister of Justice of the State of Israel on his extradition to BiH judiciary.
Prosecutor of the Special Department for War Crimes within the Prosecutor's Office of BiH attended the process of extradition and handover of the suspect to BiH Justice at Sarajevo International Airport.
The Prosecutor's Office of BiH would like to thank the General Secretariat of Interpol in Lyon - Fugitive Investigative Support Unit, as well as the Ministry of Justice of the State of Israel and the Office of the State Attorney – Department of International Affairs.
This extradition sends a clear message to all war criminals who are hiding abroad that the judiciary of Bosnia and Herzegovina aims to prove that justice is attainable and that it will take all actions aimed at locating and extraditing those suspected of war crimes, wherever they are, in order to prosecute them in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This announcement does not prejudice the outcome of the criminal proceedings and does not violate the principle of the presumption of innocence. A person shall be considered innocent of a crime until guilt has been established by a final verdict (Article 3, paragraph 1 of the CPC BiH).
