Suspected war criminal in high demand
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Former president of the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Ejup Ganić is at the centre of a political tug-of-war. The Serbs issued his international arrest warrant, British police made the arrest, and now the Bosnians want the suspect.
The Bosnian Muslim wartime leader is suspected of masterminding an attack on a retreating column of the Yugoslav People’s Army (JNA) from Sarajevo in May 1992, which led to the deaths of 18 soldiers and officers.
Ganić’s capture comes after Belgrade asked Interpol to issue 19 international arrest warrants over the attack, which has been the subject of renewed investigation in Serbia.
Although it is Serbia that formally asked for Ganić’s arrest, Bosnia, which has been investigating the Sarajevo column case for several years, wants the former president to be tried in Sarajevo.
“The prosecution considers that dealing with war crimes committed in Bosnia-Herzegovina by Bosnian citizens is under its exclusive authority,” a spokesman for the Bosnian prosecution told Reuters.
Serbia has 45 days to file for the formal extradition of Ganić, who is currently being held in custody in London. He is to attend a court hearing at the end of March.
