A former member of a Serb paramilitary unit Radovan Stankovic was arrested over the weekend in Bosnia and Herzegovina, more than four years after he escaped from prison in May 2007.
He was arrested near his parent’s apartment in the east Bosnian town of Foca where he also had served his sentence for crimes committed during Bosnia’s 1992-95 war.
During the war Stankovic took part in the beating and murder of Bosniak civilians in Foca. He locked nine Bosniak women in a house and let Serb soldiers repeatedly rape them.
The United Nations war crimes tribunal for the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s welcomed the arrest of Radovan Stankovic.
Mr. Stankovic is facing multiple charges for crimes against humanity.
“Today’s apprehension of Stankovic is significant for the victims of the grave crimes he has been convicted for.” – Mr. Serge Brammertz, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
Mr. Brammerts said he hopes that the arrest reflects an increased commitment of the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to support the process of bringing to justice those responsible for the grave crimes committed on their territory in the early 1990s.
