Orić Case: Patria in Possession of Documentation, Casualties from Zalazje on VRS Lists

Three fighters from Srebrenica were arrested on 4 January this year on suspicion of committing crimes against captured civilians. Former members of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as their wartime commander in Srebrenica, Naser Orić, are suspected of killing nine persons of Serbian nationality, reports the Patria news agency.

The suspects are Izet Arifović, Suad Smajlović and Amir Salihović. After being questioned at the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina, they were released, with restrictive measures. Naser Orić is also defending himself from freedom. The Hague Tribunal acquitted him of responsibility for the deaths of Serbs in Zalazje near Srebrenica.

The suspects are charged with capturing nine civilians of Serbian nationality on 12 July 1992 during an attack on the village of Zalazje. They then handed them over, with their hands tied, together with four dead bodies brought on a truck bed, to the police station in Srebrenica. Izet Arifović is suspected of killing one of those civilians by firing a firearm at close range, while suspect Salihović took the remaining prisoners away on a truck in an unknown direction, after which they were never seen alive. After the war, the remains of some of the victims were found and exhumed, while others are still being searched for.

Interestingly, previous testimonies stated that the captured civilians were killed in Zalazje, while today there is testimony that they were taken from Zalazje to Srebrenica and allegedly killed there.

The people of Srebrenica unanimously claim that the nine deceased Serbs were not civilians, but soldiers of the Army of Republika Srpska. The Patria news agency is also in possession of part of the documentation of the VRS, which reveals that the nine deceased are on the lists of armed formations of the VRS.

Part of the list of members of armed formations of the VRS, which also includes the names of those killed in Zalazje (marked with a red dash)

Furthermore, the documentation also reveals that the nine deceased did not have their place of residence registered in Zalazje in 1992, except for one deceased person. What were they doing during the military conflicts in Zalazje in 1992, where fierce fighting took place, if they were not at the front?

If we add to this that one of the suspects was not even in the disputed area at the time, because he was wounded, it is evident that this is a construct that will collapse on its own.