Ex-Bosnian muslim army general arrested

Ex-Bosnian army general arrested

4 March 2011 | 09:32 | Source: B92, Tanjug

VIENNA -- Former general of the Army of Bosnia-Herzegovina Jovan Divjak was arrested at Vienna International Airport on Thursday. His arrest was based on an international warrant on charges of war crimes committed in Sarajevo in May 1992, Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dačić has told Tanjug. Dačić said that Divjak had been brought before the judge on Thursday and that the judge would decide whether to detain him. According to information from the Bosnian embassy in Vienna, Divjak (73) was arrested based on a red Interpol warrant dating from 2008, which was issued by Serbia. Prior to joining the Muslim-led Bosnian Army, Divjak was a general in the former Yugoslav Peoples Army (JNA). Serbia issued the international warrant seeking his arrest over charges of committing a war crime against JNA members in Sarajevo. According to the information from Vienna, general Divjak was arrested late Thursday at Schwehat Airport while on a flight from Sarajevo to Bologna. He is currently placed in an investigation detention center, from where he will be taken before the investigative judge. The news about Divjak's arrest was broadcast as a breaking news on the national Bosnian television channel, and was also confirmed by Bosnian Ambassador in Vienna Haris Hrle. Divjak was arrested on the same warrant as Ejup Ganić, whom Serbia charged with responsibility for dozens of deaths and injuries of withdrawing JNA troops in Sarajevo's Dobrovoljačka St. in May 1992. Ganić was detained in Britain last year, but a London judge found against his extradition, saying the trial against him in Serbia would be "political".