In a significant development, Bosnia’s state police apprehended seven former members of the Bosnian Serb wartime army on Friday, suspected of participating in the infamous 1995 Srebrenica massacre that claimed the lives of around 8,000 Bosnian Muslims.
This brutal incident has been classified as genocide by two international courts.
The arrests took place in the vicinity of the eastern town of Zvornik, with the State Information and Protection Agency (SIPA) asserting that the suspects are under investigation for their alleged roles in committing genocide through individual and command responsibility, as well as providing assistance.
The Srebrenica massacre unfolded in July 1995 when Bosnian Serb forces, commanded by General Ratko Mladic, overran the UN-designated “safe haven” of Srebrenica, where approximately 40,000 civilians sought refuge.
Subsequently, about 8,000 Muslim men and boys were separated from the women and killed in the following days.
The prosecutor’s office disclosed that the detained individuals were former commanders and members of the Bosnian Serb army’s Zvornik brigade, suspected to have been directly involved in the shooting and killing of about 800 Muslim victims at the Orahovac site after the fall of the eastern enclave.
While a significant number of remains have been recovered from various mass graves in eastern Bosnia, many are still unaccounted for.
The International War Crimes Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, based in The Hague, sentenced Mladic to life imprisonment in 2017 for his role in the Srebrenica genocide, considered the worst atrocity in Europe since World War II.
Despite overwhelming evidence, the Bosnian Serb political leadership continues to deny that the massacre constitutes genocide, downplaying the severity of Serb offenses during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.
The arrests prompted a response from Serb war veterans in Zvornik, who threatened to initiate protests and road blockades. They argued that the Serb army had merely protected their ethnic kin and fought for freedom during the war.
The Bosnian war, characterized by ethnic cleansing campaigns, resulted in the death of approximately 100,000 people, while around two million were displaced from their homes, according to war crimes researchers who compiled the “Bosnian Book of the Dead” and the UN refugee agency.
SIPA confirmed that the suspects will be handed over to the prosecutors as the legal process unfolds.
