News
IDENTIFICATION OF VICTIMS RECOVERED FROM THE TOMAŠICA MASS GRAVE SITE - PRIJEDOR MUNICIPALITY COMMENCED AT SANSKI MOST
13.02.2014. 12:41The identification process was initiated in consultation with the families of the victims, following the arrival of the first results of the DNA analysis. The process of identification of the persons whose remains were found will be carried out in the coming days.
The process will continue with the arrival of new DNA findings, hence it is expected that dozens of persons, victims of war crimes from the area of Prijedor, will be identified.
The discovery and identification of the victims is an important process for the victims' families, who have been searching for their loved ones for more than two decades, and it is of great importance for the prosecutor's office, because it concerns evidence in investigations and cases related to war crimes committed in the territory of Prijedor and its surrounding area.
The Prosecutor's Office of BiH will, based on contacts with the families of the victims, obtain information about the witnesses, the site of the crime and the direct perpetrators of the crime. The Assigned Prosecutor shall examine all witnesses who have direct or indirect knowledge of the crimes committed in the municipality of Prijedor.
The first part of the exhumation process was completed at Tomašica site resulting with the uncovery of 275 complete and 120 incomplete bodies of the victims.
The Prosecutor's Office of BiH is now searching for information on additional micro-locations in the area, where it expects to find more remains of victims from the Prijedor area. Excavations shall continue at this site as soon as new information is collected about the possible locations of the victims.
The Assigned Prosecutor, Investigator and Legal Officer of the Special Department for War Crimes within the Prosecutor's Office of BiH are present during the identification processes.
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).