BELGRADE BELGRADE, Jan 20 (Hina) - The trial of defendants charged with the abduction and murder of 17 Muslims (Bosniaks) from Sjeverin in the Serbian area of Sandzak in October 1992 began at a Belgrade court on Monday.
BELGRADE, Jan 20 (Hina) - The trial of defendants charged with the
abduction and murder of 17 Muslims (Bosniaks) from Sjeverin in the
Serbian area of Sandzak in October 1992 began at a Belgrade court on
Monday. #L#
A group of Muslims was abducted from a bus driving from Sjeverin to
Priboj on 22 October 1992 and transferred to eastern Bosnian
territory which was held by armed Bosnian Serb units at the time.
The victims were taken to a motel in the town of Visegrad where they
were harassed and later killed on the bank of the Drina river in the
presence of a large number of local residents.
Two of the four defendants - Dragutin Dragicevic (33) from
Srebrenica and Djordje Sevic (30) from Sremska Mitrovica - were
arrested last year, while the other two - Milan Lukic (36) and
Oliver Krsmanovic (40), both from Visegrad - are on the run and they
are being tried in absentia.
Milan Lukic is also believed to be the mastermind of the abduction
of Bosniaks at Strpci from a train on the Belgrade-Bar line in 1993.
Lukic, who led Serb paramilitary troops in Bosnia, is also indicted
by the Hague-based UN tribunal (ICTY) for war crimes he committed in
the Visegrad area (eastern Bosnia).
(hina) ms sb