The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has filed an indictment against Radislav Krstic, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, for war crimes committed in the village of Novoseoci, near Sokolac.
According to the BiH Prosecutor’s Office, Krstic is currently serving a prison sentence imposed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
The indictment holds him responsible for participating in a joint criminal enterprise during the war, as part of a widespread and systematic attack carried out by the Territorial Defense, the Army of the Republika Srpska (VRS), and police forces against the Bosniak civilian population in Sokolac and surrounding areas. At that time, Krstic was the commander of the 2nd Romanija Motorized Brigade of the VRS.
According to the indictment, on 21 and 22 September 1992, Krstic participated in the attack on Novoseoci, a village primarily inhabited by Bosniak civilians. After the assault, women and children were separated from the men, while the captured men were transported in military trucks to a site called Ivan Polje, where they were executed by firearms.
A total of 44 people were killed at this site, including a 14-year-old victim and the oldest victim, 77 years old. The remains of 43 victims have been exhumed and identified, while the remains of one victim are still missing.
The indictment also highlights that civilian properties were looted and destroyed, and the village mosque in Novoseoci was demolished, with its debris placed on top of the victims’ bodies at Ivan Polje.
Krstic is charged with planning, ordering, executing, instigating, and assisting in the planning, preparation, execution, and cover-up of war crimes against the civilian population of Novoseoci, which, according to the Prosecutor’s Office, constitutes a crime against humanity.
It is recalled that Radislav Krstic, former general of the Republika Srpska Army, was sentenced in 2004 by the ICTY to 35 years in prison for aiding and abetting genocide against Bosniaks in Srebrenica. During previous legal proceedings, he sought early release, acknowledging that genocide had occurred in Srebrenica.
Krstic initially served his sentence in the United Kingdom, but following an attack by another inmate, he was transferred to Poland in 2014. Since April of this year, he has been serving the remainder of his sentence in Estonia.
