Indictment expected in Strpci war crimes case after 22 years

Indictment expected in Strpci war crimes case after 22 years

BELGRADE -- B92 has received confirmation that the War Crimes Prosecution will in the coming days bring charges against five suspects in the Strpci case.

Prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic told Radio B92 that 22 years after the crime, it has been discovered what led to the abduction and executions.

"After 22 years, we are on the threshold to solve the mystery called Strpci. In partnership with colleagues from Bosnia-Herzegovina, we were able to clarify what led to the kidnappings and later the executions of these people," he said.

He announced that an indictment will be raised in the next few days, after a three-month investigation.

"The indictment will be raised by us in Serbia, where five of the accused are. I believe that colleagues from Bosnia will do the same," Vukcevic said.

Friday marks the 22nd anniversary since 20 passengers, 18 of whom Muslims (Bosniaks) were abducted from a passenger train at the Strpci station on the Belgrade-Bar line and later killed.

The prosecution has announced that pursuant to an order issued by Vukcevic, preliminary investigation in Serbia was led against Gojko Lukic, Ljubisa Vasiljevic, Dusko Vasiljevic, Jovan Lipovca and Dragana Dekic, on suspicion that they committed war crimes against civilians.

Asked why it took 22 years to shed light on the crime, the prosecutor reiterated that there was obstruction in the state, but once again did not specify what it was about.

"I have already said publicly that there was obstruction in the state authorities who acted on it. I debated about that extensively in the media as well," Vukcevic said.

The prosecutor added that a characteristics of war...

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