Arrests for 1993 Strpci station train kidnappings

Arrests for 1993 Strpci station train kidnappings

BELGRADE, SARAJEVO -- Five persons have been arrested in Serbia and ten in Bosnia-Herzegovina on suspicion that they took part in the 1993 kidnapping of train passengers.

The train was traveling on the Belgrade-Bar line when 20 passengers were taken out and later killed.

The crime, known as the kidnapping in Strpci, happened on February 27, 1993 when members of Serb paramilitary unit under the command of Milan Lukic with the logistical support of the state of Serbia kidnapped 18 Bosniaks (Muslims) and one Croat.

Among those arrested are former members of the Bosnian Serb army (VRS) and police, as well as members of the paramilitary group "Osvetnici" commanded by Milan Lukic.

Lukic has already been sentenced by the Hague Tribunal sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes committed in Visegrad.

The arrests were carried out in collaboration between prosecutors' offices for war crimes of Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which in this case formed a special investigation team, with the inclusion of a special team of members of the Serbian Interior Ministry.

Most of those killed were citizens of Serbia and Montenegro and came mainly from Priboj, Belgrade and Podgorica.

Among them were also citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The remains of 16 passengers are still missing, while the remains of Rasim Coric and Rastoder Jusuf were found in Lake Perucac. Partial remains of a third passenger, Halil Zubcevic, were also found in Lake Perucac.

Among the suspects are high-ranking military officials of the VRS from this period, as well as suspected direct perpetrators who participated in the torture and the subsequent executions of...