SUSPECTS MARINKO (1946) AND ZORAN (1966) BJELICA DEPRIVED OF LIBERTY

Acting on the orders of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, SIPA officers arrested two persons suspected of involvement in war crimes committed in 1992 in Kalinovik Municipality, early this morning in Trnovo area.

By order of the Prosecutor of the Regional Team I of the Special Department for War Crimes within the Prosecutor's Office of BiH the following suspects were deprived of liberty this morning::

-        Marinko Bjelica, born on March 6, 1946 in Trnovo municipality where he resides, citizen of BiH, and

-        Zoran Bjelica, born on February 3, 1966 in Trnovo municipality where he resides, a citizen of BiH.

The suspects are under investigation by the Prosecutor's Office of BiH and are suspected to have, as members of the local Serb military and police forces, acted contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War during the war in BiH in Kalinovik in August 1992.

They are, in particular, suspected to have, on the eve of August 1, 1992 arrived to the elementary school "Miladin Radojević" in which the Bosniak civilians were incarcerated, and to have separated four civilians in one classroom and beaten them. One of the civilians died as a result of the beatings. The next day they came back to the school and used firearms to kill three Bosniak civilians. Their bodies were exhumed in Graiseljsko polje in Kalinovik municipality.

The suspects will be handed over, within the legal deadline, to the Assigned Prosecutor who will question them and subsequently decide on a motion for remand in custody.

The suspects - Marinko and Zoran Bjelica are under investigation for the criminal offense of War Crimes against Civilians under Article 173, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph c), all in conjunction with Article 180, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina.