Bosnian War Crime Suspect Freed On A Technicality

(RFE/RL) 2 February 2006 -- A Bosnian court ordered the release of a Serb war crimes suspect on a technicality today, just weeks after he was in a shootout with European peacekeepers.
Bosnia and Herzegovina's war crimes court said the original order to detain Dragomir Abazovic, who was wanted for alleged atrocities committed during Bosnia's 1992-1995 conflict, was incorrectly issued.


Abazovic, 47, is still in the hospital due to injuries he suffered when he turned his gun on himself as his wife, 46, and son, 12, used an AK-47 assault rifle to provide cover for him to escape.


His wife later died in hospital of wounds suffered in the gun battle with the EU forces in Bosnia, EUFOR.


The incident happened at Kozici village near the eastern Bosnian town of Rogatica on 5 January after EU troops identified Abazovic as a wanted war crimes suspect.


(Reuters, AFP, dpa)

The Fugitives

The Fugitives

Ratko Mladic (left) confers with Radovan Karadzic during a meeting in Pale in 1993 (epa)

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Ten years have passed since former Bosnian Serb leader RADOVAN KARADZIC and his former military commander General RATKO MLADIC were indicted by the Hague-based war crimes tribunal for genocide and other war crimes. The two fugitives remain at large, despite the obligation of NATO-led peacekeepers and the various governments in the region to arrest the indictees and send them to The Hague. Many people wonder why the most powerful military alliance in history and a host of governments seeking Euro-Atlantic integration remain unable to catch the two... (more)


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To listen to wartime audio of Ratko Mladic, click here.

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SREBRENICA: The July 1995 massacre of some 7,000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb fighters near the UN-designated safe haven of Srebrenica is the worst atrocity of its kind in Europe since the end of World War II. Since the incident, the name Srebrenica has become practically synonomous with ethnic cleansing....(more)

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