Srebrenica genocide convict dies in Bosnia car crash

2026-02-18 - 07:42

A Bosnian war criminal convicted for participation in the Srebrenica genocide died in a traffic accident Tuesday when his car veered off the road and plunged into a river near the town of Kladanj. Ostoja Stanisic, a former commander of the Zvornik Brigade's 6th Battalion, was found dead at the scene, authorities confirmed. Role in the 1995 Massacre The Bosnia and Herzegovina court had convicted Stanisic for his role in implementing the plan to forcibly expel Bosniak civilians from the UN-declared safe area of Srebrenica. Prosecutors established that Stanisic knowingly assisted indicted war criminals Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, with his battalion accepting prisoners transported from Srebrenica and participating in security operations. Under Stanisic's command, detainees were held in a village school near Zvornik deprived of basic necessities, physically abused, with at least 20 subsequently executed. Conviction and Sentence Stanisic was initially sentenced to 11 years imprisonment, but following a retrial, his sentence was reduced to five years in 2018. The conviction stemmed from his command responsibility during the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre, when Bosnian Serb forces overran the UN-protected enclave and systematically executed more than 8,300 Muslim men and boys. The incident remains Europe's worst atrocity since World War II, with thousands of victims still being identified from mass graves across eastern Bosnia.