B92: Families denied war crimes reparations

BELGRADE — A Serbian court has rejected the demands of 25 families of kidnapped victims from Sjeverin for damages, according to the Humanitarian Law Center (FHP).

In 1992, during the war in neighboring Bosnia, soldiers of the Republic of Srpska military kidnapped, and later tortured and killed 16 Muslim civilians from Sjeverin, Serbia.

For this crime, Milan Lukić, Oliver Krsmanović and Dragutin Dragičević were sentenced to 20 years in prison, while Đorđe Šević was given 15 years by the Belgrade District Court.

In May 2006, the Serbian Supreme Court confirmed the verdict.

On behalf of the families of the victims, the FHP filed charges against the Republic of Srpska in June 2007, for damages to be paid to the families, but the First District Court threw out the case.

(Web site B92 in English)