War criminal Mitar Vasiljević died yesterday at the age of 70 in Višegrad.
This former member of the “White Eagles”, a Bosnian Serb paramilitary unit, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in February 2004 for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war committed in the Visegrad area during 1992.
He was arrested by members of the SFOR on January 25, 2000, and on the same day he was transferred to the UN detention unit in Scheveningen, while he was serving his sentence in a prison in Austria.
Let us recall that in 1998 the Hague Tribunal confirmed the single indictment against Mitar Vasiljević, Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić. The indictment charged them with serious war crimes against the civilian Bosniak population of Višegrad. As the Lukićs were on the run at the time, Vasiljević was tried in a separate proceeding. The amended indictment against the three suspects was confirmed in 2001, and by the verdict of the following year, Vasiljević was declared responsible for minor crimes and sentenced to 20 years in prison, later reduced to 15 on appeal.
War criminal Mitar Vasiljević was released by the Hague Tribunal in 2010 after serving two-thirds of his 15-year prison sentence. Vasiljević, let’s remind you, returned to Višegrad on March 12, 2010, where he was welcomed as a hero, with music, columns cars, and Chetnik symbols, which was a slap in the face to the Bosniak victims
“The crimes for which Vasiljević was convicted are very serious. I believe that this is a factor against his earlier release. Since Vasiljević served two-thirds of his sentence as of January 25, 2010, and taking into account that other convicted persons in similar situations were eligible for earlier release, I believe that this factor supports earlier release” was stated in the decision of Patrick Robinson, president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Vasiljević was a member of the paramilitary unit led by Milan Lukić, and he was convicted, among other things, of setting fire to civilians in Pionirska Street and for preventing the escape of seven prisoners in the “Vilina Vlas” hotel, thus helping Milan Lukić and his men to kill the five, while two survived. Also, according to the testimony of numerous witnesses, Vasiljević participated in the crime of burning Bosniak civilians in Bikavac as well, however, in the amended indictment, the prosecution decided not to prosecute Vasiljević on the point of responsibility for the crime in Bikavac, although the testimony of Zehra Turjačanin places Vasiljević at the scene of the crime and in the incident of burning Bosniaks in Bikavac, so his complicity in both crimes was confirmed by the verdict against Milan and Sredoje Lukić, Klix.ba reports.
