ON ORDERS OF THE PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE OF BIH, PERSONS SUSPECTED OF THE CRIMINAL OFFENCE OF GENOCIDE DEPRIVED OF FREEDOM

On orders of a prosecutor from the Special Department for War Crimes, police officers of the State Investigation and Protection Agency – SIPA apprehended in the area of Zvornik, Šeković, Han Pijeska, Vlasenica and Bileća several persons suspected of the criminal offence of Genocide, committed in July 1995 after the fall of the UN Protected Zone of Srebrenica.

The suspects are the former commanders and members of the VRS and they are charged with having participated in the capture and execution of around 70 victims, men and boys of Bosniak ethnicity, as well as one woman, on 15, 19 and 23 July 1995, at the location of Jarovlje in Vlasenica and two locations in the Bišine-Šekovići area, after which they made arrangements for machines to come and carried out activities to remove the bodies of those executed.

The suspects are charged with the crime of Genocide under Article 171 of the Criminal Code of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Prosecutor’s Office of BiH and partner police agencies are continuing their activities with the aim of identifying other persons who took part in the commission of these crimes.

The suspects deprived of their freedom will be brought before the prosecutor in charge, who will decide on further activities in the case after interviewing the suspects.