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THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE OF BIH ISSUED AN INDICTMENT AGAINST NEDELJKO MILIDRAGOVIĆ (1958) AND ALEKSA GOLIJANIN (1962), CHARGING THEM WITH THE CRIMINAL OFFENSE OF GENOCIDE UNDER ARTICLE 171 OF THE CC BIH
15.06.2012. 15:13- Nedeljko MILIDRAGOVIĆ AKA "Neđo", "Pajo" and "Lega", born on January 10, 1958 in the municipality of Sokolac, with residence in Belgrade - Republic of Serbia, a citizen of the Republic of Serbia, and
- Aleksa GOLIJANIN AKA "Aca", born on December 17, 1962 in Goražde, residing in Sremska Kamenica, in the Republic of Serbia, a citizen of the Republic of Serbia.
The accused persons Nedeljko MILIDRAGOVIĆ as a Platoon Commander of the Training Center Jahorina of the Special Police Brigade within the RS MoI, and Aleksa GOLIJANIN, as Deputy Platoon Commander of the Training Center Jahorina of the Special Police Brigade within the RS MoI, are charged to have in the period of July 10 through to July 19, 1995, during the armed conflict in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina within which the VRS (RS Army) and the Ministry of Interior of Republika Srpska (RS MoI) have undertaken a widespread and systematic attack against the Bosniak civilian population from the UN safe area of Srebrenica, committed the criminal offense of Genocide.
The accused Nedeljko MILIDRAGOVIĆ is, inter alia, charged with the following:
- to have on July 12, 1995 during the search of the wider area of Potočari found a disabled Bosniak man, who could not move, inside a house, fired a gun and killed him;
- to have on July 12, 1995 isolated a group of 15 to 20 men from "Bijela kuća" (White House) and escorted them to a nearby field where they were killed one by one, by a single pistol shot;
- to have ordered execution of about 100 prisoners in the warehouse ZZ Kravica;
- to have on July 17 and July 18, 1995 during the search of a forest area located above the Bratunac - Konjević Polje road, fired a gun and killed two prisoners who had surrendered. Having captured a group of about 50 Bosniak men and boys and gathered them on the road, he singled out one boy aged 10-13 and issued an order to a unit member who took the boy away and killed him. The rest of the group of captives, whose hands were tied behind their back, were escorted by the accused into a building in Konjević Polje and have been missing ever since.
The accused Aleksa GOLIJANIN is, inter alia, charged with, the following:
- to have, on July 12, 1995, been responsible as Deputy Commander for the 3rd Platoon whose members, armed with automatic weapons, took part in the search of Bosniak houses with the aim of gathering the Bosniak population to be taken to the collection center in Potočari;
- to have, on July 12 and July 13, 1995, participated together with other members of the 1st Company in the forcible relocation of civilians from the UN base in Potočari, via buses and trucks, to the area under the control of the Army of BiH;
- to have, on July 12 and July 13, 1995, as Deputy Platoon Commander, along with other members of Companies I and II of the Jahorina Training Centre and members of other VRS and RS MoI units, participated in capturing thousands of Bosniak men. The accused has ordered members of the Training Center to execute 15 - 20 captured Bosniak men on a meadow beside the Konjević Polje-Bratunac road. He also participated in these killings;
- to have on July 17 and July 18, 1995, together with other members of Companies I and II and members of the VRS Bratunac Brigade participated in the search of a forest area located above the Bratunac - Konjević Polje road, with the goal of locating, capturing and killing Bosniak men. At least four Bosniak men were killed at that time. One of them was executed by Aleksa Golijanin on the orders of his superior, where he fired from close range from an automatic rifle. Hundreds of Bosniak men, among whom were children, were captured and then taken to a warehouse at the intersection of Konjević Polje, where they were imprisoned, and then killed.
The accused are charged to have, with the aim of partial extermination of a national, ethnic and religious group, personally executed and ordered others to execute members of the Bosniak group of people and to cause them serious physical and psychological suffering, by which they have committed the criminal offense of Genocide under Article 171, Subparagraphs a) and b) of the Criminal Code of BiH, in conjunction with Article 180, Paragraph 1 of the same Code.
The indictment was forwarded to the Court of BiH for confirmation.
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).