SIPA

Today, 19 July 2013 Members of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) apprehended ŠM (1961) from Tešanj in the operation codenamed Ozren due to the grounds for suspicion of having committed the criminal offence of war crime. Earlier, the State Investigation and Protection Agency received the order of the Prosecutor's Office, No. T 20 0 KTRZ 0002051 11 dated 06 September 2012 to establish the facts that members of the Tešanj Public Security Station (PSS) had been apprehending, detaining and torturing Serb civilians in Tešanj municipality, in the period spring 1992- autumn 1993. Given the complexity of the case and the systematic and methodical approach in the execution of the order of the Prosecutor’s Office, SIPA has formed an operational team codenamed "Ozren", with the aim of establishing the facts and collecting evidence about the events in this municipality. By the application of operational – criminal measures and actions to support evidence in accordance with the B&H Criminal procedure Code, during the last ten months of the investigations, the SIPA members have collected the evidence supporting the grounds for suspicion that the members of the Tešanj Public Security Station, by the orders of the then Head of the Tešanj PSS, committed the criminal offence of war crime on the outbreak of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by unlawful deprivations of liberty, arrests and detentions of Serb civilians in the premises of the Tešanj PSS on a pretext that the Serb civilian minority was massively armed. By orders of the then Head, citizens of Serb ethnicity had been detained in the premises of the Tešanj PSS, for more than 72 hours, contrary to the then current law, while some had been detained up to nine months without any legal basis. During the detention, on the orders of the Head of Tešanj PSS, citizens of Serb ethnicity had been repeatedly interrogated by members of the Tešanj PSS National Security Service, members of the Criminal Police and some police officials, during which they had extorted confessions by mental and physical tortures based on which some of them had been sentenced to prison terms of up to 12 years.
The investigation so far has found that there are grounds to suspect that ŠM, the then Head of the Tešanj PSS, committed the war crime by giving orders to subordinate members of the Tešanj PSS for the unlawful deprivation of liberty, arrest and detention of citizens of Serb ethnicity. It has also been found that he personally participated in some interrogations and extortions of confession of Serb civilians, and forced them to serve in the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then prevented them leaving the Tešanj municipality. The investigation has also revealed direct perpetrators of war crimes, who, acting by the orders of the then Head of the Tešanj PSS, mentally and physically tortured the citizens of Serb ethnicity, one of whom was killed.
Since the findings of the investigation conducted by the Agency indicate the grounds for suspicion that ŠM committed the offence, the members of the State Investigation and Protection Agency, arrested the mentioned individual today, 19 July 2013, in Sarajevo, pursuant to the Article 139 paragraph (1) of the B&H Criminal Procedure Code. During his deprivation of liberty, ŠM was familiarised with all the rights given under the provisions of the Article 5 of the Criminal Procedure Code, with full respect for his rights regulated by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. The apprehended individual was detained at the premises of the State Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA), where he was criminally processed.
The State Investigation and Protection Agency will hand ŠM over to the Prosecutor's Office within 24 hours, with a report on the crime committed and its perpetrators, including all the evidence collected so far by the Agency’s investigators, supporting grounds for suspicion that ŠM committed the criminal offence under the Article 173 of the B&H CC "War Crime against Civilians". In the report submitted to the Prosecutor’s Office, SIPA will propose that Prosecutor’s Office file a motion for custody to the B&H Court since the evidence collected indicates the reasonable grounds for suspicion as a general requirement for the custody and the existence of grounds for detention provided for by the Article 132 Paragraph (1) Items b) and d) of the Criminal Procedure Code of B&H. The report, in addition to the suspect ŠM, includes the suspects SD, FB and AA.

Highlight of today's arrests is available here (RTRS footage, taken from WebAvaz)