Milan Bogdanović Arrested on Suspicion of Crimes Against Humanity

Acting on the order of the prosecutor from the Special Department for War Crimes of the Prosecutor's Office of BiH, police officers of SIPA, in the area of Srebrenica, deprived of liberty the suspect Bogdanović Milan, born on October 19, 1950 in Srebrenica, a citizen of BiH. The suspect is under investigation by the Prosecutor's Office of BiH and is suspected that, as the commander of police forces, serving as the commander of the PS Skelani and commander of the 6th Company of the Special Police Units (PJP), he acted contrary to the provisions of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions and committed the criminal offense of crimes against humanity against victims of Bosniak nationality, after the fall of the UN Safe Area Srebrenica in July 1995, reports the Bosnian news agency Patria.

Milan Bogdanović is suspected as a participant in a joint criminal enterprise, during which members of the VRS and the MUP of RS undertook a widespread and systematic attack directed against the Bosniak civilian population of the UN Safe Area Srebrenica, as part of which up to 40,000 Bosniak civilians were forcibly displaced from the Srebrenica enclave, and more than 8,000 Bosniak men and boys were summarily executed and buried in mass graves.

He is suspected that, as the commander of the 6th Company of the PJP, he coordinated and commanded police forces, which in the area of Konjević Polje, carried out the capture of Bosniak men and boys after the fall of Srebrenica, who, fearing for their lives, were trying to flee the UN Safe Area Srebrenica, and the separation of men from women, children and the elderly.

After capture, the detainees were taken towards the stadium in Nova Kasaba, and some of them were taken to the command of the 6th Company, where they were tortured and interrogated, and after that, they handed over about 500 persons of Bosniak nationality to the military police, who were taken to executions at other locations, while members of the said police unit took one group of 16 detainees, who had previously been tortured and beaten, to the Kušlat site, where they were shot with firearms, and only one victim survived the shooting.

Members of the said police formation tortured, abused, and beat the prisoners, allowed other members of the army and police to abuse the detainees, and handed them over for transport to other locations and execution sites, as well as participated in the killing of prisoners in smaller groups and their burial, and in this way, several dozen victims were killed.

The suspect is also charged with the unlawful detention of 5 persons of Bosniak nationality, who were detained by members of the PS Skelani and held in inhumane conditions for about 3 months, forced into forced labor, after which they disappeared under unknown circumstances and all trace of them is lost, as well as two civilians of Bosniak nationality, who were taken over by members of the PS Skelani from the police in Bajina Bašta, Serbia, on July 20, 1995, who were taken to the PS Skelani, after which all trace of them is lost, only to be found and exhumed after the war in the Glogova mass grave.

The suspect will, during the day, be brought before the prosecutor in charge, who will examine the suspect and thereafter make a decision on filing a motion for detention or prohibition measures in accordance with the law.