Serbia arrests top Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Serbia arrested wartime Bosnian Serb security chief Stojan Zupljanin on Wednesday and was to send him to the United Nations tribunal in The Hague for trial on war crimes charges.
more stories like thisZupljanin, 56, was one of the top four fugitives sought by the tribunal for war crimes in the territory of former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, and his arrest was seen as a step forward in Serbia's European Union accession efforts.
"Stojan Zupljanin was arrested today near Belgrade ... police and security agents took part in the operation. He should be extradited to the Hague in the next 72 hours," said Bruno Vekaric, spokesman for Serbia's special war crimes prosecutor.

The Hague confirmed the arrest, which comes as Serbia, deeply split between nationalists and a pro-EU block after May 11 inconclusive elections, is immersed in intense coalition negotiations.

Zupljanin was found at an apartment about 8 km (5 miles) from the centre of Belgrade and was to be taken before an investigative judge at the war crimes court in Belgrade before being extradited.

"There was no resistance during his arrest," said Vladimir Vukcevic, Serbia's chief war crimes prosecutor, who coordinated the operation. "This arrest shows clearly that we are seriously cooperating (with the Hague) and there is the political will for full cooperation."

Officials said Zupljanin had foiled a previous attempt to arrest him in the southern Serbian city of Nis two months ago. His family had publicly called on him to surrender, to spare them the embarrassment and financial collapse, as all their assets were frozen.

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Zupljanin, a commander in the city of Banja Luka during the 1992-95 Bosnia war, is charged with killing Muslim and Croat civilians and his arrest was welcomed in Bosnia.
"(He) has been accused of killings, torture, persecution, extermination and other horrid crimes against civilian population in western Bosnia, and his arrest represents a move in the right direction," said the Muslim member of Bosnia's tripartite presidency, Haris Silajdzic.
Also still at large, 13 years after the war ended, are the Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic, Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic and Goran Hadzic, a local Croatian Serb leader.

The U.N.'s chief prosecutor for Yugoslavia war crimes, Serge Brammertz, told the U.N. Security Council last week he believed all four were within Serbia's reach and urged the new government to arrest them.

Bosnian officials said Zupljanin's arrest showed more may be coming.

"It is a sign that some things will change in Serbia in terms of apprehension of war crimes fugitives," said Muharem Murselovic, a Bosnian Muslim ex-detainee at Serb-run detention camps in western Bosnia, where Zupljanin was in charge.
"It also gives some hope to the victims that people responsible for the crimes cannot evade justice," added Murselovic, currently a deputy in the Bosnian Serb parliament.
The war crimes suspects' arrest and handover has been a condition for Serbia's advancement towards membership of the European Union, which welcomed the arrest on Wednesday.
"It is an important step towards full cooperation with (the tribunal), which is key to bringing justice and lasting reconciliation in the Western Balkans region," EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana also welcomed the news: "To have the people who have been prosecuted, arrested and being placed in front of an international tribunal, having a fair trial, is something that is beneficial for everybody."