Switzerland extradites former commander to Bosnia
Officials in Switzerland have extradited a former Bosnian commander to his homeland, instead of Serbia, where he is accused of war crimes.
Naser Oric “arrived Friday afternoon in Sarajevo where he was handed over to local authorities,” the Swiss Justice Ministry said in a statement.
Oric, 48, was arrested on June 10 by Swiss authorities based on an international warrant issued in Serbia, which accuses him of war crimes and crimes against humanity against ethnic Serbs during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.
Many in Bosnia had criticized Switzerland and Serbia for the arrest of Oric, saying the move would harm relations between Sarajevo and Belgrade.
People had even threatened that they would cancel a ceremony in Srebrenica marking 20 years since a massacre took place there if Oric was not released.
Bakir Izetbegovic, the Muslim member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, hailed Switzerland for sending Oric to his home country, saying the decision was “the only correct and fair” one.
Serbia accuses Oric, who led Muslim forces in Bosnia’s east during the war, of killing ethnic Serbs in villages near Sarajevo in 1992.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia had, however, acquitted Oric of committing war crimes in 2008.
About 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were massacred in Srebrenica when Serb forces overran it in 1995, after three years of imposing a blockade on the enclave, which was protected by the United Nations. The carnage has been designated as the worst in Europe since the end of World War II.
MS/HSN/HJL
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