NATO Forces Detain War Crimes Suspect
NATO-led forces in Bosnia on Sunday detained a suspected Serbian war criminal accused of committing atrocities during “ethnic cleansing” of the northern town of Bosanski Samac in 1992.
Former Police Chief Stevan Todorovic, 41, was accused “of willful killing and murder, willfully causing great suffering, cruel treatment, inhumane acts, inhumane treatment, rape and torture” of Muslims and Croats, NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana said.
A spokeswoman for the NATO-led Stabilization Force, or SFOR, later denied a reported statement by Todorovic’s lawyer that his client had been abducted in Serbia in neighboring Yugoslavia, where the NATO force has no jurisdiction.
“I can assure you that he was detained on the territory of Bosnia,” spokeswoman Sheena Thomson told Reuters.
In Los Angeles, President Clinton said Todorovic was accused of “being personally responsible for some of the most heinous crimes that took place during the conflict in Bosnia.”
The White House said Todorovic is in the custody of the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
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