ON ORDER OF THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE OF BIH A SUSPECT SUSPECTED OF COMMITTING THE WAR CRIME AGAINST CIVILIAN POPULATION IN THE AREA OF GRADIŠKA DEPRIVED OF FREEDOM

Acting on the order of a prosecutor from the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH, SIPA police officers, with the support of members of the Republika Srpska Ministry of Interior, deprived the suspect of his freedom in the area of Gradiška in the early morning hours.

The suspect is under investigation and is charged with having acted contrary to the rules of international humanitarian law during the war and the armed conflict in BiH as a member of the Republika Srpska Army, namely as commander of the 1^st Company of the 2^nd Battalion of the Gradiška Light Infantry Brigade.

The suspect is charged with having failed to take necessary and reasonable measures to punish the members of the VRS who were subordinated to him and who killed a larger number of Bosniak civilians in Turjak, Gradiška municipality, on 23 June 1992.

The suspect is charged with having committed a criminal offence - war crime against civilians under Article 173 (1), (c) of the Criminal Code of BiH in conjunction with Article 180 (2) of the same Code.

After the deprivation of his freedom, the suspect will be handed over to the prosecutor working on the case, who will interrogate the suspect and then make a decision on further activities in the case.