PART OF THE IDENTIFICATION PROCESS OF THE VICTIMS RECOVERED FROM THE MASS GRAVE SITE TOMAŠICA CARRIED OUT IN SANSKI MOST

The three day identification process of the victims recovered at the site of Tomašica in the municipality of Prijedor was completed today in Sanski Most.

The identification process was initiated on February 12, 2014 in consultation with the families of the victims, following the arrival of the first results of the DNA analysis. During the course of a three day period 20 persons recovered from mass grave Tomašica and 6 persons recovered from other locations were identified.

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.

During the course of these three days the Assigned Prosecutor has examined a couple of persons who have provided statements on events taking place in Prijedor municipality in 1992.

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 a Legal Officer of the Special Department for War Crimes within the Prosecutor's Office of BiH were present during the identification process.