Terminally Ill, He is Exchanged for Others
SARAJEVO, April 21 (Reuters) — The Bosnian government freed a separatist Serb colonel on Sunday two weeks after he was returned to its custody by a U.N. war crimes tribunal which found no evidence to indict him. Colonel Aleksa Krsmanovic was released along with 10 other Serbs captured in fighting with Bosnian Muslim and Croat federation forces last year shortly before the Dayton peace treaty on Bosnia, relief officials said.In exchange, Serb authorities freed a Bosnian Croat militia officer, Ivan Stjepanovic, who had been sentenced to death for alleged atrocities against Serb civilians, and Ibran Mustafic, a Muslim parliamentary deputy. Michael Steiner, deputy to Carl Bildt, international High Representative in Bosnia, escorted the 11 Serbs from Sarajevo across ceasefire lines to the Serb "capital" of Pale. Steiner then left for Sarajevo with the freed Croat and Muslim.
Witnesses said a haggard-looking Krsmanovic was greeted by his wife, daughter and two grandchildren. "This is the happiest day of my life," said Slobodanka Krsmanovic, his wife.
In Sarajevo, a spokesman for the International Committee for the Red Cross said most of the Serbs freed had been transferred to the capital from Mostar for the release. Bosnian Muslim, Croat and Serb ethnic factions have now freed almost all war prisoners, complying with a key clause of the Dayton agreement under heavy Western pressure after months of politically-motivated stalling.
Bosnian government troops captured Krsmanovic and General Djordje Djukic, a senior logistics officer, on January 30 after they made a wrong turn on a road near ceasefire lines in the outskirts of Sarajevo. The two were swiftly extradited to the tribunal in The Hague although neither had been indicted. After an investigation, the tribunal charged Djukic with abetting the Serb siege of civilians in Sarajevo but found no evidence to indict Krsmanovic and sent him back to the custody of the mostly Muslim Bosnian government.
Djukic appears to be off the hook as well now after an announcement by the tribunal on Friday that charges against the 61-year-old Serb general would be dropped on humanitarian grounds &3151; his rapidly deteriorating health. The tribunal said Goldstone had concluded after independent medical tests that Djukic, who had pleaded not guilty, was terminally ill and that it would therefore be inhumane to force him to stand trial.
Fifty-seven suspects have been indicted by the tribunal — 46 Serbs, eight Croats and three Muslims. Djukic was one of just four currently in its custody. The two most prominent indicted suspects are Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his military commander General Ratko Mladic, both of whom remain at large.
Krsmanovic's Arrest, the Backstory
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