Reuters AlertNet Lite - Bosnia makes arrest over war crimes caught on film

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Bosnia makes arrest over war crimes caught on film

02 Nov 2006 16:25:44 GMT
Source: Reuters

SARAJEVO, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Bosnian authorities said they made an arrest on Thursday over alleged war crimes committed by Croatian and Muslim-led Bosnian army troops against Serb refugees, depicted in a video aired in August.

The amateur footage showed ethnic Serbs from Croatia being harassed by Croatian and Bosnian troops while fleeing Operation Storm, a Croatian army offensive in 1995.

"One person was arrested and handed over to the prosecution on the suspicion that he committed a war crime against prisoners of war," the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) said in a statement.

The agency would not confirm Bosnian media reports that the suspect was Bosnian Muslim Sefik Alic, a wartime army commander. His arrest in the town of Bosanska Krupa caused an uproar, with locals putting up roadblocks and demanding his release, Bosnian media said.

The video of the alleged war crimes was broadcast by Bosnian television stations. Some Bosnian media reports said other parts of the video, not broadcast, showed killings.

Another video aired in August showed Bosnian Muslim general Atif Dudakovic on a battlefield, allegedly ordering soldiers to burn Serb villages. Bosnia's state court has said it is investigating the allegations against Dudakovic, who has dismissed them as politically motivated and called the recording fabricated.

The videos have been welcomed by Serbs as a rare vindication. Widely seen as the aggressors in the wars that tore apart the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, they say the West is biased and has long ignored the crimes committed against them.

More Serbs have been convicted or indicted for war crimes committed in the period than members of other Yugoslav ethnic groups, but Croatians, Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats have also been convicted of war crimes against Serbs.

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Last updated:Thu Nov 2 16:28:07 2006