Arrests for 1993 Strpci station train kidnappings

Arrests for 1993 Strpci station train kidnappings

The crime, known as the kidnapping in Strpci, happened on February 27, 1993 when members of Serb paramilitary unit under the command of Milan Lukic with the logistical support of the state of Serbia kidnapped 18 Bosniaks (Muslims) and one Croat.

Among those arrested are former members of the Bosnian Serb army (VRS) and police, as well as members of the paramilitary group "Osvetnici" commanded by Milan Lukic.

Lukic has already been sentenced by the Hague Tribunal sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes committed in Visegrad.

The arrests were carried out in collaboration between prosecutors' offices for war crimes of Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which in this case formed a special investigation team, with the inclusion of a special team of members of the Serbian Interior Ministry.

Most of those killed were citizens of Serbia and Montenegro and came mainly from Priboj, Belgrade and Podgorica.

Among them were also citizens of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The remains of 16 passengers are still missing, while the remains of Rasim Coric and Rastoder Jusuf were found in Lake Perucac. Partial remains of a third passenger, Halil Zubcevic, were also found in Lake Perucac.

Among the suspects are high-ranking military officials of the VRS from this period, as well as suspected direct perpetrators who participated in the torture and the subsequent executions of the victims who after the murder thrown into the Drina River.

Bosnian and Serbian war crimes prosecutors pointed out that they were extremely satisfied with the work of the joint team, which has managed to shed light on the crime, and thus bring hope and justice to the victims' families, who for two decades search for the remains of their loved ones and call for the detection and punishment perpetrators.

The suspect will be handed over to prosecutors, who will question them, and then make a decision on initiating proposals for determining the extent of detention.

Prosecutors' offices of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia continue cooperation on the detection and prosecution of war crimes, and will inform the ICTY as well as the Security Council of the UN about the achieved results.