Cedomir Brankovic, 50, was arrested on Monday based on an international warrant which Interpol's Zagreb office issued at the request of the County Court in Sisak, which had investigated Brankovic and another 31 suspects. Given that all were at large, the investigation was called off and an international arrest warrant was issued in November 1999.
Bulgarian authorities notified the Croatian Interior Ministry yesterday that Brankovic had been arrested and detained for 72 hours. The Interior Ministry notified the Justice Ministry, which said that Bulgaria would be asked to extradite Brankovic after his identity was confirmed.
Brankovic is suspected of attacking 21 villages in the Novska area on 17 August 1991 with his battalion and 31 other people. Thirteen people were killed in the attack. He is also suspected of pillaging and mining several Catholic churches in the area and destroying numerous houses and economic facilities.
The AFP and Beta news agencies quoted the secretary general at the Bulgarian Interior Ministry, Bojko Borisov, as saying that Brankovic, a citizen of Serbia and Montenegro, had entered Bulgaria as a member of an official Serbia and Montenegro Army delegation.
The agencies incorrectly state that Brankovic was sentenced in Croatia to 20 years in jail for war crimes.