February 27 marks 32 years since the abduction and murder of civilians taken from Train 671 on the Belgrade–Bar route. The Štrpci abduction, which occurred in 1993, was carried out by members of a Serbian paramilitary unit under the command of Milan Lukić, with logistical support from Serbia’s authorities. The paramilitaries kidnapped 20 passengers from the train at Štrpci station, located in Bosnian territory near Višegrad, before executing them. The victims included eighteen Bosniaks, one Croat, and one unidentified person. To this day, the remains of only four victims have been recovered. Most of the victims were citizens of Serbia or Montenegro.
Over the years, several individuals have faced prosecution for the crime. In 2002, a Montenegrin court sentenced Nebojša Ranisavljević to 15 years in prison. Mićo Jovičić received a five-year sentence in 2016 after pleading guilty before the Bosnian state court. In 2019, Milan Lukić was indicted in Bosnia, though he had already been sentenced to life imprisonment by the ICTY for other war crimes in Višegrad.
Further convictions came in October 2022, when the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina sentenced seven former soldiers from the Bosnian Serb Army’s Second Podrinje Brigade—Obrad and Novak Poluga, Petko Inđić, Radojica Ristić, Dragan Šekarić, Oliver Krsmanović, and Miodrag Mitrašinović—to 13 years each for their roles in the murders. This verdict was upheld in 2023.
In February 2023, Belgrade Higher Court sentenced Gojko Lukić, Duško Vasiljević, Jovan Lipovac, and Dragana Đekić to a combined 35 years in prison. However, the Belgrade Court of Appeals later overturned this verdict, leading to a retrial. Lipovac passed away in February 2023, before the retrial began. Additionally, in October 2023, the Bosnian state appeals chamber confirmed the 15-year sentence for Boban Inđić, a former commander of the Višegrad Brigade’s Interventions Company.
On this anniversary, we express deep concern over the handling of the case by Serbian authorities, particularly the Belgrade Court of Appeals, which overturned the initial sentences, further prolonging the suffering of the victims’ families. The failure to deliver justice diminishes hope for accountability and continues the cycle of denial. We urge authorities to expedite the trial process, recognize the victims as civilian war casualties, and ensure their families receive adequate financial compensation. Serbia must demonstrate genuine commitment to addressing past atrocities.
Today, we remember the 20 innocent victims of the Štrpci abduction:
Adem Alomerović, Džafer Topuzović, Esad Kapetanović, Favzija Zeković, Fehim Bakija, Fikret Memović, Halil Zubčević, Ilijaz Ličina, Ismet Babačić, Jusuf Rastoder, Muhedin Hanić, Nijazim Kajević, Rasim Ćorić, Rifet Husović, Safet Preljević, Senad Đečević, Šećo Softić, Toma Buzov, and Zvjezdan Zuličić, was stated in the press release by Association for Social Research and Communication (UDIK) – Sarajevo.
