Balkans

Two unnamed former Bosnian fighters suspected of committing war crimes during the early 1990s conflict, including the torture and murder of civilians, were arrested in the Netherlands.

The first prosecution witness at the trial of Nikola Maric, accused of the detention, persecution and killing of Bosniaks in the Prozor area, said that the defendant repeatedly assaulted him.

Former fighter Zoran Milic, who was convicted killing four members of a Bosniak family in Busovaca in 1993, had his prison sentence reduced from nine to seven years on appeal.

Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic will pay his first official visit to Sarajevo on May 13 – a move seen as a step forward in relations between the two neighbouring countries.

Former Bosnian Croat fighter Zdenko Jakisa was arrested in the US state of Minnesota on suspicion of committing a series of violent crimes against civilians during the 1990s war.

Edinburgh professor Nigel Osborne tells Balkan Insight that the plenum movement is a refreshing inspiration to the rest of the region on how to transform society from the bottom-up.

Around Gavrilo Princip’s home village in Bosnia, disputes over whether he was a hero or a terrorist have raised tensions ahead of the centenary of the outbreak of World War I.

A witness said that ex-fighter Marinko Bjelica, on trial for war crimes in Kalinovik, vowed to commit murder at a school where Bosniaks were detained, in order to avenge his two sons.

Bosnia’s Federation entity has adopted a set of anti-corruption laws, which aim to establish specific law-enforcement bodies tasked with pursuing perpetrators of organised crime.

The defence for former Bosnian Army soldier Edin Dzeko, charged with executing six Croats in 1993, said that witnesses who accused him of the killings were lying to avoid prosecution.