Kajganić did not approve the arrest of suspects for war crimes in Zvornik; after being summoned to the Prosecutor's Office, they fled

By: Amra Vrabac

Chief Prosecutor of the BiH Prosecutor's Office Milanko Kajganić did not want to issue an arrest warrant for Petko Panić and Vinko Radović, who are suspected of crimes against humanity under the BiH Criminal Code, but rather to serve them with a summons to report to the BiH Prosecutor's Office as suspects for crimes against Bosniaks in Zvornik, Patria has learned.

However, what has become almost a pattern is that the two suspects fled after receiving the summons. Given the suspicions that this would happen, they were arrested upon the order of a prosecutor from the BiH Prosecutor's Office in the area of the Zvornik and Karakaj border crossings, where SIPA officers took them over from the BiH Border Police.

However, although the BiH Prosecutor's Office requested custody due to the suspects' risk of flight and the danger that they might obstruct the investigation, conceal evidence, and influence witnesses or accomplices if they remain at liberty, the BiH Court imposed house arrest on them!

Suspect Radović is suspected of having participated, as a representative of the former civilian and military authorities in Zvornik, and suspect Panić as the deputy police commander in Zvornik, in the spring of 1992, in the systematic persecution of thousands of Bosniak civilians from the villages of Đulići, Klisa, and surrounding areas, as well as the unlawful separation, abuse, and detention of around 700 men and boys aged between 16-70, during which the murders of several individuals also occurred, and who were unlawfully detained in the Technical School Center in Karakaj. During the persecution of the population, civilians were robbed, money and valuables were stolen, tractors, vehicles, and other property were seized, after which the remaining population was sent to the territory controlled by the Army of RBiH in Kalesija.

Of the 700 murdered individuals, around 250 victims are still being searched for. The scale of this crime is shocking. In the hall in Karakaj in early June 1992, guards turned on the heating to torture the captured Bosniaks. Due to such practices by the BiH Prosecutor's Office of sending summonses to suspects, one of the suspects for war crimes in Zvornik literally disappeared and cannot be traced. The investigation includes about 20 individuals, and due to the summonses being sent, they warn each other about the actions of the BiH Prosecutor's Office.

Although this is a complex case where the role of the two suspects is clear, Kajganić refused to initial the arrest warrant. According to Patria's findings, Kajganić is wondering what the "veteran organizations from the RS" will say.

These cases have been gathering dust for years because they are so-called complex cases with multiple suspects. These cases are also monitored by the Hague Tribunal. According to the instructions of the VSTV, these cases have priority because they involve mass crimes. However, some prosecutors, in order to meet their quotas, worked on simpler cases with one accused, while such cases remained pending.

Due to the passage of time, both witnesses and accused are aging and dying, so time is a decisive factor. According to Patria's information, war crimes are no longer a priority for the BiH Prosecutor's Office, but rather organized crime and Sky cases. Only two prosecutors are assigned to genocide cases, with dozens of suspects still at large.

Due to the arrests in Sky cases, the capacity of detention units has been reduced, which is also cited as a reason for imposing house arrest or prohibiting measures on suspects for war crimes. This allows suspects to plan their escape, and we have already had such examples.

Regarding the arrest of seven suspects for genocide in Srebrenica, Kajganić had no choice because the general position of the War Crimes Department is that summonses are not sent for this criminal offense.

SIPA arrested seven individuals, but not a single word was released by the BiH Prosecutor's Office about this operation. Even the hearing for custody was separated for one suspect, and Sreten Milošević's hearing was held on Friday, while the other six were heard today. Milošević holds both BiH and Serbian citizenship, lives in Serbia, and works in BiH. These are seven former commanders and members of the Zvornik Brigade of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). The arrested individuals are linked to the execution and murder of about 800 victims of Bosniak nationality at the Orahovac site, after the fall of the Srebrenica Protected Zone.

According to information available to Patria, about 50 suspects for genocide and other crimes in Srebrenica are unavailable to the BiH judiciary. The majority are in Serbia, as is the case with the genocide suspect Milomir Savčić. Kajganić, the then prosecutor, attended the meeting where Savčić's arrest was discussed. Milorad Kojić, then director of the Republika Srpska Center for Research of War, War Crimes, and Search for Missing Persons, communicated with Savčić's lawyer Miodrag Stojanović, warning him that Savčić's arrest was being prepared. Kojić stated that he was warned by "our people from below." At that meeting, as Istraga wrote, Kajganić said: "Gordana will have problems if Savčić is arrested. We don't need a spectacle and searches," Milanko Kajganić said at that meeting, referring to the then chief prosecutor Gordana Tadić. Incidentally, Kajganić came to the BiH Prosecutor's Office without a single indictment filed. He is a person who did not work as a prosecutor and never filed an indictment before coming to the BiH Prosecutor's Office. He was employed by the MUP RS from 1994 to 2006, and then moved to the Special Prosecutor's Office in Banja Luka, where he worked as a prosecutorial investigator. His official biography, which can still be found online, clearly states that he worked as a prosecutorial investigator, while the biography currently posted on the BiH Prosecutor's Office website only states that he worked in the Special Prosecutor's Office.

In early August 2021, Savčić fled after the BiH Court decided to impose custody on him for violating restraining orders. However, he walked out of the BiH Court, and several hours later, the Court Police could not find him at his address. Savčić was already in Serbia.