| Press Release |
REGISTRY
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| (Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document) |
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The Hague, 21 June 2008
CT/MOW/PR1263e
Stojan Župljanin in Tribunal’s Custody
Stojan Župljanin was transferred today in to the Tribunal’s custody, after evading justice for more than eight years. He was arrested in Serbia on Wednesday 11 June.
Župljanin, the most senior police officer in the so-called Autonomous Region of Krajina (ARK) in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1992-1995 conflict and later an advisor to fugitive Radovan Karadžić, stands accused of involvement in a campaign to eliminate and permanently remove Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats from the area between April and December 1992.
The prosecution holds him responsible for murder, persecution, torture and deportation of non-Serb civilians, as well as for wanton destruction of towns, villages and religious institutions in numerous municipalities.
According to the indictment, Župljanin had overall authority and responsibility for the functioning of the police within the region concerned and as such commanded the units which participated in the perpetration of the crimes.
It is alleged that as member of the so-called Serb Crisis Staff, Župljanin worked on implementation of the plan to ethnically cleanse the territory which was to be annexed to a proposed Serb state.
It is claimed that 38 different detention facilities were set up for non-Serbs in a specific part of Bosnia where captives were beaten, tortured, sexually assaulted, humiliated, harassed and psychologically abused.
The Prosecution lists more than 40 incidents of murder committed by forces under Župljanin’s control, including the execution of a large number of men from the Trnopolje detention camp on Mount Vlašić on about 21 August 1992.
The Tribunal has previously convicted Radoslav Brđanin, a leading Bosnian Serb politician, and sentenced him to 30 years’ imprisonment for his responsibility in a campaign of persecution and other crimes against the non-Serb population in the area of Bosnia in question.
Župljanin’s transfer to the Detention Unit brings the number of fugitives from the Tribunal down to three. Two of the most wanted suspects, the Bosnian Serb military and political leaders, Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić, have been on the run since the Tribunal indicted them for the genocide and other crimes committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the 1992-1995 conflict.
In the 15 years since its establishment the Tribunal has indicted 161 persons for serious violations of humanitarian law committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 2001. Proceedings against 113 have been concluded.
A date for Župljanin’s initial appearance will be announced in due course.
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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
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