Politics
Montenegro: Officials deny Muslim deportations
Podgorica, 27 Nov. (AKI) – Four former security officials on trial for allegedly deporting scores of Muslims from Montenegro to Bosnia in the early 1990s have denied all the charges against them. The officials said they were acting in line with policies of the government in Podgorica, then and now headed by prime minister Milo Djukanovic.
The Montenegrin state prosecutor told the court on Thursday that local police had rounded up dozens of refugees who had fled war-torn Bosnia in the spring of 1992 and handed them over to Bosnian Serb forces who later executed many of them.
In opening remarks at the trial in Podgorica, prosecutor Lidija Vukcevic said nine former police and state security officials violated international law, and illegally detained and deported 79 Bosnian Muslim and Serb refugees.
Nine people have been charged with breaking international law and forceful deportation of the 79 Bosnian Muslim refugees. Only four are on trial in the Podgorica court, while five are still at large and will be tried in absentia.
One of the accused, Bozidar Stojovic, former chief of state security, said the deportations were ordered by then-interior minister Pavle Bulatovic, who was killed in a gangster-style shooting in Belgrade in February 2000.
Stojovic and the other defendants told the court they had carried out deportation orders but had no knowledge of what later happened to the refugees.
Another defendant, Milorad Sljivancanin, said he “sincerely regretted” the fate of the deported civilians, but said he had no influence on their destiny after they were deported to the Serbian-controlled part of Bosnia.
The Montenegro government last year decided to compensate the families of the victims with 4.1 million euros.
In 1992 Montenegro and its former federal partner Serbia, then led by late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after the secession of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia.
Yugoslavia then openly sided with Bosnian Serbs and rebel Serbs in Croatia, aiding them with weapons, supplies and personnel.
The Montenegrin state prosecutor told the court on Thursday that local police had rounded up dozens of refugees who had fled war-torn Bosnia in the spring of 1992 and handed them over to Bosnian Serb forces who later executed many of them.
In opening remarks at the trial in Podgorica, prosecutor Lidija Vukcevic said nine former police and state security officials violated international law, and illegally detained and deported 79 Bosnian Muslim and Serb refugees.
Nine people have been charged with breaking international law and forceful deportation of the 79 Bosnian Muslim refugees. Only four are on trial in the Podgorica court, while five are still at large and will be tried in absentia.
One of the accused, Bozidar Stojovic, former chief of state security, said the deportations were ordered by then-interior minister Pavle Bulatovic, who was killed in a gangster-style shooting in Belgrade in February 2000.
Stojovic and the other defendants told the court they had carried out deportation orders but had no knowledge of what later happened to the refugees.
Another defendant, Milorad Sljivancanin, said he “sincerely regretted” the fate of the deported civilians, but said he had no influence on their destiny after they were deported to the Serbian-controlled part of Bosnia.
The Montenegro government last year decided to compensate the families of the victims with 4.1 million euros.
In 1992 Montenegro and its former federal partner Serbia, then led by late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, formed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after the secession of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Macedonia.
Yugoslavia then openly sided with Bosnian Serbs and rebel Serbs in Croatia, aiding them with weapons, supplies and personnel.
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