Thursday, August 25, 2005
Bosnian Serb War Criminal Arrested in Russia Mosnews Link
Russian Police Arrest Bosnian Serb War Criminal — Report
Created: 25.08.2005 17:58 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 18:03 MSK, 3 hours 9 minutes ago
MosNews
A Bosnian Serb accused of raping and torturing dozens of women during the 1992-95 Bosnian war has been arrested in Russia, Reuters reported Thursday quoting the Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA.
A spokesman for the Bosnian Serb Interior Ministry in Banja Luka said he had no immediate comment.
Dragan Zelenovic, 44, was taken into custody by Russian police on Wednesday, SNRA said, without specifying where his arrest was said to have taken place.
Zelenovic, an officer of the military police in the town of Foca during the war, is wanted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
He was one of eight men still at large facing charges of atrocities in the wars triggered by the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, including the top two fugitives, Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic and former president Radovan Karadzic.
Serbia’s future ties with the West depend largely on bringing war crimes suspects to justice.
A dozen suspects have surrendered to the Hague tribunal this year following negotiations with Belgrade and one was recently captured in Argentina.
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Well this does lend credence to the rumors that some war criminals indeed made their way to Russia. Certain dialects of Russian are not that hard for a person who already speaks Bsosnian to master, in the case of Serbs, or indeed anyone Bosnian that can read, they are going to know both Cyrillic and Latin characters so reading isn't going to be a tough thing for them. (I read Cyrillic very poorly. I used to not be able to read it at all, so I know how important the reading issue is!)
It was known that Marko Milosevic was in Russia for a long time.
Quite ordinary people who have medical problems untreatable in Bosnia-Hercegovina or Croatia sometimes will go to Moscow for treatment. It's expensive but probably cheaper than the alternative of going to a Western country such as Germany the U.K. or France or the U.S., as well the medical care isn't bad. I know about this because a friend had to have a child's eye problem treated in Russia. The family in question btw were Croats. The problem must have been quite severe that they didn't just go to Dubrovnik or Zagreb.
So I see no reason why there wouldn't be at least a few war criminals hideing out in Russia. It's always been denied, but Russia was always a staunch ally of the Serbs, myabe not so much Yugoslavia but definately there's centuries of alliance when it comes to the Serbian people.
It's interesting to note the bit of commentary in the article that 'Serbia's future ties to the West depend largely on bringing war criminals to justice.' This seems to me a hint that Russian policy may be shifting a little.
Created: 25.08.2005 17:58 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 18:03 MSK, 3 hours 9 minutes ago
MosNews
A Bosnian Serb accused of raping and torturing dozens of women during the 1992-95 Bosnian war has been arrested in Russia, Reuters reported Thursday quoting the Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA.
A spokesman for the Bosnian Serb Interior Ministry in Banja Luka said he had no immediate comment.
Dragan Zelenovic, 44, was taken into custody by Russian police on Wednesday, SNRA said, without specifying where his arrest was said to have taken place.
Zelenovic, an officer of the military police in the town of Foca during the war, is wanted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
He was one of eight men still at large facing charges of atrocities in the wars triggered by the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, including the top two fugitives, Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic and former president Radovan Karadzic.
Serbia’s future ties with the West depend largely on bringing war crimes suspects to justice.
A dozen suspects have surrendered to the Hague tribunal this year following negotiations with Belgrade and one was recently captured in Argentina.
=============================================================================
Well this does lend credence to the rumors that some war criminals indeed made their way to Russia. Certain dialects of Russian are not that hard for a person who already speaks Bsosnian to master, in the case of Serbs, or indeed anyone Bosnian that can read, they are going to know both Cyrillic and Latin characters so reading isn't going to be a tough thing for them. (I read Cyrillic very poorly. I used to not be able to read it at all, so I know how important the reading issue is!)
It was known that Marko Milosevic was in Russia for a long time.
Quite ordinary people who have medical problems untreatable in Bosnia-Hercegovina or Croatia sometimes will go to Moscow for treatment. It's expensive but probably cheaper than the alternative of going to a Western country such as Germany the U.K. or France or the U.S., as well the medical care isn't bad. I know about this because a friend had to have a child's eye problem treated in Russia. The family in question btw were Croats. The problem must have been quite severe that they didn't just go to Dubrovnik or Zagreb.
So I see no reason why there wouldn't be at least a few war criminals hideing out in Russia. It's always been denied, but Russia was always a staunch ally of the Serbs, myabe not so much Yugoslavia but definately there's centuries of alliance when it comes to the Serbian people.
It's interesting to note the bit of commentary in the article that 'Serbia's future ties to the West depend largely on bringing war criminals to justice.' This seems to me a hint that Russian policy may be shifting a little.
# posted by Katja R. @ 10:23 AM 
