THREE SERBS CHARGED WITH GENOCIDE

The indictment alleges that the three accused acted in accordance with the plan and the intent to partially exterminate a group of Bosniak people by causing serious bodily and mental harm, carrying out forcible transfer of population, separating men from their families, imprisoning and killing Bosniak men, aiming to banish the women and children and kill Bosniak men, as well as raping of Bosniak women in the locality known as „Bijela kuća“ (the White House).

The Special Department for War Crimes of the BiH Prosecutor's Office issued an indictment against three persons charging them with the criminal offence of Genocide under Article 171, subparagraphs a) and b) of the BiH Criminal Code, in conjunction with Article 29 and Article 180, paragraph 1 of the same Code.

The Prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office issued an indictment against:

• Jević Duško AKA Staljin, born on June 21, 1957 in the municipality of Bosanski Petrovac, residing in Bijeljina, a citizen of BiH,
• Đuric Mendeljev AKA Mane, born on October 15, 1960 in Olovo, residing in Bijeljina, a citizen of Bosnia; and
• Marković Goran, born on November 8, 1964 in Sarajevo, residing in Bijeljina, a citizen of BiH.

According to the indictment the accused Duško Jević, as the Assistant Commander of the Special Task Force Brigade of the RS MoI (Serb Republic's Ministry of Internal Affairs) and the Assistant to Commander of the Training Center Jahorina for Special Task Forces, Mendeljev Djurić who was also at that time the Commander of the 1st Company of the Training Center Jahorina and Goran Marković, as the commander of the 2nd platoon of the 1st Company of the Training Center Jahorina, are all charged that they commanded their units, acted individually and in concert with other participants, planned, ordered, instigated and participated in the implementation of a systemic joint criminal enterprise.

The indictment alleges that the accused have during the period from July 10, to July 19, 1995, together with other members of the RS Army [Bosnian Serb Army] and RS MoI, acted in accordance with the plan and the intent to partially exterminate a group of Bosniak people by causing serious bodily and mental harm, carrying out forcible transfer of population, separating men from their families, imprisoning and killing Bosniak men and by doing so participated in a joint criminal enterprise aiming to banish the women and children and kill Bosniak men from the UN protected zone of Srebrenica.

The indictment further alleges that members of the Special Police Task Force of the Training Center Jahorina, participated in the expulsion and permanent transfer of Bosniak women, children and the elderly, and the capture, shooting and killing of Bosniak men captured in small or large groups as well as raping of Bosniak women in the locality known as „Bijela kuća“ (the White House).

Places and locations mentioned in the indictment as the sites of crimes for which these persons were accused are, inter alia, Budak - a place located near Potočari, the so called "Bijela kuća", Sandići - a place located near Bratunac, a school in Bratunac and Kravica warehouse.

The accused are charged with the following: as co-perpetrators they inflicted serious bodily injuries or mental harm to a group of Bosniaks, killed male members and carried out forcible transfer of women, children and elderly members of the Bosniak population to areas outside of Republika Srpska, all in the intent to fully or partially eliminate the national, ethnic and religious group of Bosniaks, by which they have committed the criminal offence of Genocide under Article 171, subparagraphs a) and b) of the BiH Criminal Code, in conjunction with Article 29 and Article 180, paragraph 1 of the same Code.

The accused are in custody. The indictment has been forwarded to the Court of BiH for confirmation.

Bosnian Serb troops led by general Ratko Mladic summarily executed more than 8,000 Bosniak men, boys, and the elderly, and expelled 30,000 women after overrunning the enclave designated a United Nations safe area.

The ICTY in The Hague prosecutes those deemed most responsible for war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia, mostly the political and army leadership. Local tribunals are mandated to prosecute the lower ranking suspects.

The 1992-95 war in Bosnia left at least 100,000 people dead and some two million internally displaced.