Sjeverin War Crimes Convictions

Serbia has delivered a powerful message that it is ready to hold war crimes trials by convicting four Serbs of the kidnap and murder of 16 Muslims during the Bosnian war.

But question marks remain over why prosecutors did not look further up the chain of command to find out who authorised the killings – characterised by the court as crimes against humanity.

On September 29, a court in Belgrade sentenced Milan Lukic and Oliver Krsmanovic to 20 years in prison – in absentia, since both men are on the run.

Dragutin Dragicevic, who chose to remain silent throughout the trial, received the same penalty, while Djordje Sevic was sentenced to15 years' imprisonment.

The court found that in October 1992, members of a Bosnian Serb paramilitary group, the Avengers, commanded by Milan Lukic, abducted the 16 Muslims as they were travelling to work on a bus inside Serbia. The Muslims all came from Sjeverin, in the Sandzak region of Serbia.

They took their captives over the border to Visegrad, where they tortured and subsequently murdered them. Then they dumped the corpses in the river Drina.

In his concluding remarks, prosecutor Vladimir Vukcevic asked for maximum prison sentences.

"The manner in which the criminal act was perpetrated was indicative of ruthless torture, brutal acts committed in cold blood, and cruel treatment causing terrible suffering,” he said. “The abducted people were brutally beaten with wooden batons or murdered by firearms, which constitute one of the most serious criminal acts."

Judge Nata Mesarevic highlighted the testimony given by eyewitness Dragana Djekic, Lukic’s girlfriend at the time. Djekic told the court about prior planning for the abduction, the kidnapping itself, and how the Muslims were tortured in the Vilina Vlas hotel in Visegrad. She identified both accused and victims at the hotel, in photographs obtained by the prosecutors office obtained.

Another witness, Miloje Udovicic, was driving past when the kidnapping happened. The attackers forced him to tow the bus for several miles when it broke down. He described how the kidnappers – with their faces blackened and guns in their hands – rejoiced "like Indians who have tracked down their prey".

Udovicic said the men physically abused and humiliated their captives on the bus, forcing them to sing Serbian nationalist songs. He told the court he was afraid to intervene because "everyone knew what happened to people who helped Muslims".

Human rights groups, victims' families and their lawyers said they were disappointed with the final verdict, because the court failed to investigate who had planned and organised the raid.

"This is no justice at all – 20 years in prison for 16 human lives," said Ramiz Catovic, whose two sons Ramahudin and Sabahudin were murdered.

"Other senior figures – those who contrived that evil deed – should have appeared in the dock," said Zinaida Hodzic, whose brother was among the dead.

"The state is behind this crime, but the court has not dared delve into this," said Natasa Kandic, director of the Belgrade Humanitarian Law Fund. "This proves that judges are still unable to free themselves from the influence of government bodies, and from the need to take into account their interests."

Sefko Alomerovic, the legal representative for the victims' families, said he had proposed looking for the motive behind the crime, but the court had not taken this up. The trial, he said, should have revealed that this was "a strategic operation by the Bosnian Serb army designed to create the conditions needed to allow an exchange".

Citing Dragana Djekic's testimony, Alomerovic noted that she said the exchange was "a crucial factor" in the abduction. The Bosnian Serb military had lost 19 men in clashes with Muslims near Gorazde. According to Djekic, Lukic told her that the Muslims were captured so they could be exchanged – alive – for the dead Serbs’ bodies.

"The exchange could have been organised only by senior state officials," said Alomerovic.

When Bosnian Muslim forces refused the offer, Lukic had the captives killed.

Human rights activists in Sandzak have kept the case alive since 1992, regularly reminding the public of the unsolved crime when the annual anniversary comes round.

But officials showed little willingness to do anything until the Hague tribunal began pushing for war crimes trials to be held in Serbia. In October 2002, the Belgrade prosecutor’s office issued war crimes indictments against Lukic and his associates, and the trial began January 2003.

The convictions have been marred by concern that the two missing men – Lukic and Krsmanovic – could be found if the authorities looked hard enough. Police issued warrants for their arrest, but there have been reports in the Serbian media that Lukic has been living in Obrenovac near Belgrade. Serbian justice minister Vladan Batic lives in the same town. Krsmanovic is reported to be living in Visegrad, in the Republika Srpska entity of Bosnia.

"This trial is no more than a continuation of practices typical of totalitarian regimes, where certain individuals are protected under the pretext that the state, the army or some other organizations should be protected,” said lawyer Srdja Popovic. “Hence, this is yet another falsification by the Serbian judiciary."

Milanka Saponja-Hadzic is an IWPR contributor in Belgrade.