A Belgrade court has issued arrest warrants for 19 former Bosnian officials over a 1992 attack on troops of the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), a spokeswoman said today.
"The war crimes investigative judge charged 19 people for war crimes and the use of banned weapons in the 1992 attack on a retreating army column in downtown Sarajevo," said Ivana Ramic, a spokeswoman for Belgrade's District Court.
In April 1992, after multi-ethnic Bosnia declared independence from former Socialist Yugoslavia, Bosnian Serb forces attacked Sarajevo.
Backed by JNA troops and artillery, the attack from nearby hills set up a 43-month siege of the city that claimed about 14,000 lives. Some JNA troops remained stationed in the city and became a focus of bargaining between the two rival parties.
A deal between the then Yugoslav military, Bosnian authorities and the United Nations peacekeeping mission granted safe passage to the Serb-controlled suburb of Lukavica to the JNA units.
On May 2nd, the convoy of retreating troops led by UN peacekeepers was cut in two and attacked by the Bosnian army in Sarajevo's Dobrovoljacka street, the spokeswoman said.
As many as 42 Yugoslav soldiers and officers were killed. Another 73 were wounded while 215 were taken prisoner, she added.
The same day, Bosnian presidency chairman Alija Izetbegovic was taken by the Bosnian Serb forces and held for hours at Sarajevo airport. The column was attacked amidst rumours of his detention.
The spokeswoman said a former member of Bosnian wartime presidency, Ejup Ganic, was among the people sought for the attack. She declined to elaborate on other suspects and only said "they were in the chain of command back then".
Reuters