According to testimony provided to press by a former Srebrenica police chief, Bosniak military commander Naser Oric and his 28th Division committed serious systematic abuses against the local population during the early 1990s. According to accounts published by SRNA and Vecernje Novosti, Oric’s forces misappropriated humanitarian aid provisions and sold them on the black market, while denying food and necessities to local residents. Oric also prevented police from detaining or arresting anyone under his command, and profited from the sale of medicine from the local hospital.
A transcript of the Radio Srebrenica’s show, dated from 1994, which hosted head of the municipal council, Osman Suljic, was found within the witnesses’ statements obtained by Novosti. Hungry Srebrenica people appealed to the Head for tones of flour from humanitarian aid being sold in the market, while the people were starving.
The auditors informed Suljic that Oric’s storekeepers, who the people turned to for a help, arrogantly responded “if you have nothing to eat, graze grass” rather than giving them some food.
Dozens of witnesses’ statements read that the fate of many in Srebrenica would have been different if there were not profiteering and illegal trading, or wise-less and courage-less military and civil administration. Particularly distressing was the fact that Oric’s protégés had no mercy for the sick or wounded, charging them highly for services.
Naser Oric was recently arrested by Swiss authorities on a warrant issued by Serbia. Following protests by BiH, Oric was returned to Sarajevo. Serbian and RS leaders have criticised the decision, noting that the BiH Court has a poor track record when it comes to prosecuting Bosniaks for war crimes.
