SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Bosnian Muslim jailed for 20 years for 1990s war killings
Sarajevo, Sept 19 (AFP) Sep 19, 2023
A Sarajevo court on Tuesday sentenced a former Bosnian Muslim soldier to 20 years in jail for killing 12 prisoners of war during the Balkan country's 1990s war.

The killings took place around the central town of Vitez in December 1993 and were among the worst atrocities committed against Bosnian Croats during the country's war.

In total, 64 people, including women, the elderly and wounded soldiers who had surrendered, were eventually killed as a result of an attack on three Bosnian Croat villages around Vitez.

Almir Sarajalic, 55, a member of a brigade of the Bosnian army, which was mainly made up of local Muslims, was "found guilty ... of having killed at least 12 HVO soldiers (Bosnian Croat forces) who had previously surrendered and were disarmed", said a court statement.

The victims included wounded soldiers, including one who was unable to move, it added.

Seven other defendants, including a former commander of the mountain brigade, were acquitted due to lack of evidence, the court said.

The killings were carried out during the Bosnian army attack on three villages near Vitez populated by ethnic Croats -- Krizancevo Selo, Safradin and Dubravice.

During the operation, the army was backed by members of a mujahedeen unit, composed of foreign fighters who fought alongside Bosnian Muslims during the 1992-1995 war.

Some 34 people -- women, the elderly and prisoners of war -- were killed during the attack itself.

Thirty other soldiers were taken away to a mujahedeen camp and were killed later, according to the prosecutors.

The killings came eight months after Bosnian Croat forces killed 116 Muslim civilians in the village of Ahmici, in the same region.

Although allies against ethnic Serbs during most of the war, ethnic Croats and Muslims also fought against each other for 11 months in 1993 and 1994.

The Bosnian war claimed nearly 100,000 lives.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Young magmas on the came from much shallower depths
JunoCam revived by onboard heat treatment just in time for Io flyby
CTAO telescope uncovers fresh evidence for layered jet structures in historic gamma ray burst

24/7 Energy News Coverage
States legally obligated to tackle climate change: ICJ
Viasat unveils IoT Nano service for global low-power connectivity
Xi says China, EU must deepen trust but bloc chief urges 'real solutions'

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
Trump's AI plan prioritizes deregulation to boost US dominance
Thailand, Cambodia clash with jets and rockets in deadly border row
US approves $322 mn in arms sales to Ukraine; German government moves to speed up military procurement

24/7 News Coverage
World's top court paves way for climate reparations
Pacific climate pioneer still fears for island nation's future
China hails 'positive' ICJ ruling on climate reparations



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.