MLADEN BLAGOJEVIC FOUND GUILTY

In 2006, Bosnian Serb soldier Mladen Blagojevic was arrested in the United States and deported to Bosnia to face war crimes charges dating back to the 1995 Srebrenica genocide. On November 6th, 2008 he was found guilty for Crimes Against Humanity over his involvement in the Srebrenica genocide. Srebrenica genocide claimed lives of 8,000 to 10,000 Bosniaks (Muslims), many of them children under the age of 18. Women were forcibly deported from the enclave in a UN-assisted ethnic cleansing.

Photo of Mladen Blagojevic: GUILTY!

On 6 November 2008, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina delivered the first instance Verdict in the case of Zdravko Bozic and Others. The Court found Mladen Blagojevic, former Bosnian Serb soldier who participated in the Srebrenica genocide, guilty of Crimes against Humanity. Co-accused Zdravko Bozic, Zoran Zivanovic and Zeljko Zaric have been acquitted on all counts of the Indictment. Zdravko Bozic and Mladen Blagojevic were deported to Bosnia in June and November of 2006 for lying to U.S. immigration authorities about their service in the Bosnian Serb military during the 1992-95 war.

According to the judgment, Mladen Blagojevic is guilty of taking a part in the widespread and systematic attack by the Serb Army and Police of the Republika Srpska (RS) directed against the Bosniak civilian population of the UN safe area Srebrenica, between 11 and 18 July 1995. Blagojevic was a member of Military Police Platoon of the Bratunac Light Infantry Brigade. The Court found that he willingly took part in persecuting civilian Bosniak population in Srebrenica on political, national, ethnic, cultural and religious grounds, with a view to inflicting serious bodily injuries.

“Mladen Blagojevic is found guilty… of willingly taking part in persecution of the civilian Bosniak [Bosnian Muslim] population with a goal to commit inhuman acts,” presiding judge Stanisa Gluhajic, who is of Serb ethnic background, told the Court. Accordingly, Blagojevic thereby committed the criminal offence of Crimes against Humanity and the Court sentenced him to 7 years imprisonment. The time Blagojevic spent in custody under the decisions of this Court from 17 November 2006 onwards will be credited against the prison sentence.

The judge Gluhajic said that Blagojevic guarded a school “Vuk Karadzic” in the town of Bratunac, where Bosniak civilians were being held against their will. Blagojevic beat and tortured these detainees and took part in the execution of at least five civilians during the night of 13 to 14 July 1995. Witnesses also saw Blagojevic firing a machine gun at a Bosniak civilian standing near the window of “Vuk Karadzic” school in the eastern town of Bratunac, but could not tell if the man died. Blagojevic was shooting at civilians from a military vehicle, parked in front of the school. He also participated in the forcible separation of Bosniak men from women and children in Srebrenica knowing they would be deported from the enclave.

The judge said three other suspects were acquitted because prosecutors failed to present enough evidence, something that associations of Srebrenica survivors and relatives of Srebrenica genocide victims find hard to believe. Prosecutors said they would appeal.

Srebrenica Genocide Blog – Facts vs. Genocide Denial
http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com

FOUR ON TRIAL OF WHICH TWO DEPORTED FROM THE US

FOUR SERBS ON TRIAL FOR SREBRENICA MASSACRE, TWO OF THEM DEPORTED FROM THE UNITED STATES

Four Bosnian Serbs went on trial on Friday at Bosnia’s war crimes court for crimes committed during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of up to 8,000 Bosniaks.

Two of the suspects, former military policemen Zdravko Bozic and Mladen Blagojevic, were deported to Bosnia last June and November for lying to U.S. immigration authorities about their service in the Bosnian Serb military during the 1992-95 war.

Together with Zeljko Zaric and Zoran Zivanovic, who were arrested in Bosnia last December, they were charged with the detention, murder and forcible transfer of Bosniaks after Serb forces overran the U.N. “safe area” of Srebrenica.

“According to the prosecution, the four took part in the illegal military operation in the safe area of Srebrenica in July 1995,” Bosnian radio reported Prosecutor Kwao Hong Ip as telling the court.

“They are also responsible for not preventing the crime or protecting the civilians,” he said.

According to the indictment the accused confined 2,000 to 3,000 unarmed Muslim civilians in a primary school in Bratunac near Srebrenica and participated in the abuse, beatings and cruel treatment of the detainees.

It also said that Bozic and Blagojevic together with six other members of the Serb army executed at least 5 Bosniaks while Zaric and Zivanovic separated three Bosniaks from other detainees and killed them by firing from automatic firearms.

In December, the U.S. authorities arrested 26 Bosnian Serbs and accused a number of them of taking part in Europe’s worst single atrocity since World War Two.

Over 8,000 Bosniaks from Srebrenica and surrounding villages were killed in July 1995. The bodies of about half have been found in more than 80 mass graves in the Srebrenica area and the rest are awaiting DNA identification which could take years to complete.

Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and military chief Ratko Mladic have been indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague over Srebrenica and the 43-month siege of Sarajevo.

Both men are still at large. Karadzic is believed to be hiding in eastern Bosnia or Montenegro and Mladic in Serbia.

Another 11 Bosnian Serbs are on trial for Srebrenica genocide at the Bosnian war crimes court while about two dozen are either being tried or have been convicted by the U.N. war crimes court and courts in Serbia and Croatia.

In-depth research about Srebrenica genocide suspects hiding in the US:

1. Phoenix, Arizona – A Mecca for Serb Suspects of Srebrenica Massacre
2. The United States Deports Two Serbs Wanted for Srebrenica Massacre
3. Bosnian Serb Immigrants Failed to Disclose Their Past Service in Genocidal Military
4. Marko Boskic – Srebrenica Murderer
5. Butcher of Srebrenica Wants His Own Admission Kept Silent
6. Srebrenica Massacre Gunman, Marko Boskic, Will Not Face Torture Charges
7. Elusive Justice: A Man Who Gunned Down 1,200 Srebrenica Bosniaks

Srebrenica Genocide Blog – Facts vs. Genocide Denial
http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com