Bozic and guards Milan Kosjer, Zeljko Knezevic and Mirko Dokic are suspected of war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war. The police have also been instructed to investigate other persons, including Nikola Vuletic, who is believed to have participated in the crimes, the Office said after Vecernji List daily of Monday reported that the Chief State Prosecutor was launching an investigation into crimes in Vojnic.
Bozic is believed to have participated in the torture of imprisoned civilians and POWs and of allowing persons who were not guards to enter the prison and take part in the torture, as a result of which a number of prisoners sustained serious injuries and two died.
The Office said that the investigation was not completed also because the suspects were out of reach of the police. An international warrant for their arrest was issued on March 28, 2003.
Nikola Vuletic, who also used to be prison warden, was amnestied by the Supreme Court in 1996 in line with the General Amnesty Act.
According to some NGOs, which quoted data from the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor, from 1991 to 2004 charges were pressed for war crimes against 4,774 persons, mostly Serbs. Investigations were launched against 3,232 and 1,400 were indicted. By the end of 2005, 603 persons were sentenced and 245 were acquitted.
At the same time, charges were pressed for crimes in formerly occupied areas against 3,970 Croat soldiers and police officers, of whom 1,492 were indicted, mostly for plunder, robbery and murder. Those acts were mostly described as classic crimes and not war crimes.
The Office of the Chief State Prosecutor in 2004 reviewed cases and charges pressed for war crimes, after which proceedings against 485 persons were discontinued due to lack of evidence or their criminal acts were classified as armed rebellion.