Vladimir Putin Grants Russian Citizenship to Ratko Samac, Accused of War Crimes in Ključ

(Patria) - The Association of Camp Detainees of Ključ has requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH to send a diplomatic note to the Russian Federation regarding the granting of citizenship to Ratko Samac, accused of war crimes in Ključ in 1992.

Former officer of the Army of Republika Srpska, Ratko Samac, is listed as the 29th person on a 44-page list to whom Putin granted Russian citizenship by decree, published yesterday.

- This is a disgrace and a diplomatic note must be sent to Russia. We ask who you have granted citizenship to and what are his merits – that he killed innocent people during the war – stated Mehmed Begić from the Association of Camp Detainees of Ključ for Radio Free Europe (RSE) .

In 2013, the Cantonal Court in Bihać conducted an investigation against Ratko Samac for war crimes against civilians in Ključ, and in 2015, his arrest was ordered, according to this judicial institution for RSE.

During the expulsion of the non-Serb population in Ključ in 1992, more than 150 Bosniak civilians were killed, and some were illegally arrested and beaten, according to data from judicial institutions in BiH.

Association of Camp Detainees of Ključ

Bosnia and Herzegovina requested the extradition of Ratko Samac twice, namely at the request of the District Court in Banja Luka in 2015 and 2018.

Russia rejected these requests due to, as they explained at the time, Ratko Samac's poor health.

Samac has been living in Russia since 1999, according to Russian media reports which RSE could not independently confirm. He went for treatment in Kurgan in the southern Urals in 1999, where he was arrested in 2016, as reported by Sputnik at the time, based on a BiH arrest warrant for war crimes.

Sputnik also reported in 2016 that Samac initially received a temporary residence permit after moving to Russia, and that his residence was extended until 2020 in September 2015. This also could not be independently confirmed.

On the list of foreigners to whom the Russian president has granted citizenship is, among others, Croatian doctor Mirela Jakupanec, who supported the Russian occupation of the Ukrainian region of Donetsk and lives there.

Russian citizenship has also been granted to American professional boxer Kevin Johnson, a friend of the Kremlin, as well as Canadian hockey player Brendan Leipsic, who plays for the SKA club from Saint Petersburg.