Naser Orić wants Serbian pension

A former Bosnian Muslim army commander tried and acquitted by the Hague on war crimes charges expects to be granted a pension in Serbia. Naser Oric, accused of killing Serb civilians in eastern Bosnia, but found by the Hague Tribunal to be innocent, says he will request his pension from Belgrade "when conditions have been met". Naser Oric wants Serbian pension Oric started his career in the late 1980s as a member of a Serbian police (MUP) special unit, which he left with the onset of the war in Bosnia in 1992. From 1987 until 1992, he was deployed in Kosovo and worked on Slobodan Milosevic's security detail. He told media in Sarajevo, Bosnia, that he traveled to Belgrade on several occasions since his Hague acquittal in 2008, and that he hired a lawyer to "regulate his pension rights in Serbia". Oric, who has in the meantime been detained in Bosnia suspected of taking part in organized crime activities, says that once he receives the money, he will give it to "the children of his fellow fighters who died in Srebrenica". Reports from Croatia said last week that former Croat President Stjepan Mesic - the last president of the presidency of the former Yugoslavia (SFRJ) - was receiving a Serbian pension and telling reporters that he was getting the money "for breaking up Yugoslavia". Media in Belgrade then wondered whether "war criminal Naser Oric would also get a Serbian pension", considering that he was employed by Serbia's police. Oric said he planned to apply for a pension, but denied he was a war criminal, explaining this was the case because the Hague had acquitted him.

Naser Orić wants Serbian pension

Orić started his career in the late 1980s as a member of a Serbian police (MUP) special unit, which he left with the onset of the war in Bosnia in 1992.

From 1987 until 1992, he was deployed in Kosovo and worked on Slobodan Milošević's security detail.

He told media in Sarajevo, Bosnia, that he traveled to Belgrade on several occasions since his Hague acquittal in 2008, and that he hired a lawyer to "regulate his pension rights in Serbia".

Orić, who has in the meantime been detained in Bosnia suspected of taking part in organized crime activities, says that once he receives the money, he will give it to "the children of his fellow fighters who died in Srebrenica".

Reports from Croatia said last week that former Croat President Stjepan Mesić - the last president of the presidency of the former Yugoslavia (SFRJ) - was receiving a Serbian pension and telling reporters that he was getting the money "for breaking up Yugoslavia".

Media in Belgrade then wondered whether "war criminal Naser Orić would also get a Serbian pension", considering that he was employed by Serbia's police.

Orić said he planned to apply for a pension, but denied he was a war criminal, explaining this was the case because the Hague had acquitted him.