On the 23rd Anniversary of the Štrpci Crime, Film "Voz 671" to be Screened on BHT and RTS

On Saturday, February 27, 2016, the documentary film "Voz 671" will be broadcast on the public RTV services of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia (BHT and RTS). The film discusses the investigation into the crime in Štrpci, 23 years after the crime, reports the BH News Agency Patria.

The film will feature prosecutors from the Prosecutor's Offices of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, family members of the victims from Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as representatives of NGOs, journalists, and publicists, speaking for the first time. The film focuses on the joint investigative team of the prosecutor's offices and police from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, formed in the spring of 2014, which worked on shedding light on this crime and searching for the bodies of the murdered.

This documentary film will, for the first time, show photographs and names of all victims murdered in the Štrpci crime on February 27, 1993, as well as a video reconstruction of the abduction.

We remind you that the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed an indictment against 10 individuals for the war crime in Štrpci in April 2015.

The prosecutor of the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina filed an indictment against 10 individuals, members of the VRS from the Višegrad area, for the war crime committed against passengers abducted at the Štrpci station in Bosnia and Herzegovina from train 671, which was traveling on the Belgrade-Bar line, on February 27, 1993.

As stated in the indictment, after the train was stopped, 20 victims were abducted: 18 Bosniak individuals, mostly from the Sandžak region, citizens of Serbia and Montenegro, one person of Croatian nationality, and one person of Arab origin.

After the abduction, the victims were taken to a school in Prelovo near Višegrad, where they were tortured, abused, and robbed. Subsequently, with visible injuries, the victims were transported to Mušići, where they were murdered, and their bodies were thrown into the Drina River.

An indictment has also been filed in Serbia, and proceedings are underway against 5 individuals accused of the Štrpci crime.

Indictment filed against:

Dragičević Luka, born November 14, 1951, in Višegrad,
Inđić Boban, born May 22, 1972, in Višegrad,

Poluga Obrad, born October 16, 1971, in Višegrad,
Poluga Novak, born November 14, 1963, in Višegrad,
Šekarić Dragan, aka "Pive", born November 4, 1969, in Goražde,
Krsmanović Oliver, born August 13, 1963, in Višegrad,
Inđić Petko, born August 26, 1960, in Višegrad,
Ristić Radojica, aka "Rile", born December 21, 1969, in Višegrad,

Ratković Vuk, born March 14, 1950, in Višegrad,
Jovičić Mićo, aka "Splića" and "Crni", born August 10, 1961, in Vinkovci

The accused are charged with, as members of the Višegrad Brigade of the VRS, as co-perpetrators, violating the rules of international law during an armed conflict. Luka Dragičević ordered, and the other accused carried out, the unlawful taking and detention, inhumane treatment, infliction of great suffering and bodily integrity injuries, and murder of civilian population, thereby committing the criminal offense - War Crime against Civilian Population.

Members of Serbian paramilitary units under the command of Milan Lukić, with logistical support from Serbia, committed this crime. The majority of Bosniaks were from Montenegro, Prijepolje, Podgorica, and there were also citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Of the 20 abducted passengers, the remains of only two bodies have been found in the Perućac lake. The only person prosecuted for the abduction of 20 innocent citizens in Štrpci is Nebojša Ranisavljević from Despotovac, who was released from prison in 2011 after serving his sentence. He was arrested in October 1996 and sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Higher Court in Bijelo Polje (Montenegro) on September 9, 2002. During the trial, he stated that Milan Lukić commanded the group, who was convicted by the Hague Tribunal for crimes committed against Bosniak civilians in Višegrad during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but his indictment did not include the Štrpci crime.

VICTIMS FROM THE TRAIN

On their last journey 22 years ago, the following boarded the train to Belgrade: Esad Kapetanović (19 years old), Ilijaz Ličina (43), Fehim Bakija (43), Šećo Softić (48), Rifet Husović (26), Ismet Babačić (30), Halil Zupčević (49), Adem Alomerović (59), Rasim Ćorić (40), Fikret Memetović (40), Favzija Zeković (54), Nijazim Kajević (30), Muhedin Hanić (27), Safet Preljević (22); Džafer Topuzović (55), Jusuf Rastoder (45), Zvezdan Zuličić (23), a student, Tomo Buzov; and the youngest among them, sixteen-year-old Sead Đečević.

In an operation by two prosecutor's offices on December 5, 2014, a total of 15 suspects were arrested – members of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS) and the paramilitary formation "Osvetnici" (Avengers) – five in the territory of the Republic of Serbia and ten in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on suspicion of participating in the abduction and murder of 20 passengers from the train traveling on the Belgrade-Bar route on February 27, 1993.