Russia Holding Bosnian Serb War Crimes Indictee
Thursday, September 1, 2005 11:10 AM

The deputy chief prosecutor of Russia's Khanty-Mansii Autonomous Okrug in western Siberia, Vladimir Tyulkov, was quoted by Interfax on 30 August as saying there that "the necessary documents for the extradition [of Bosnian Serb war crimes indictee Dragan Zelenovic] have already been prepared and will be sent to the Russian prosecutor-general on 31 August," Reuters reported. Russian and Bosnian Serb media have noted in recent days that Zelenovic was arrested on 25 August in the oil town of Khanty-Mansiisk after working as a construction worker under the assumed name of Petrovic for several years. Of eight men from Foca indicted in 1996 by the Hague-based tribunal for crimes there during the 1992-95 conflict, Zelenovic is the last man still at large. Three have been tried and convicted, two are awaiting trial, and two were killed while trying to avoid arrest (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 12 July 2002 and 18 May 2005). The indictment against the eight says that they held women as captives and that "many of the detained women were subjected to humiliating and degrading conditions of life, to brutal beatings and to sexual assaults, including rapes."

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Published in: "Russia Holding Bosnian Serb War Crimes Indictee," RFE/RL Newsline, Vol. 9 No. 165 Part II, 31 August 2005.