From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The
1992 Yugoslav People's Army column incident in Sarajevo
occurred on 3 May 1992 in Dobrovolja?ka Street,
Sarajevo
, when members of the
Bosnian army
(ARBiH) attacked a convoy of the
Yugoslav army
(JNA) troops that were exiting the city of
Sarajevo
according to the withdrawal agreement.
Background
[
edit
]
The attack is thought to have happened in retaliation for the arrest of the President of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Alija Izetbegovi?
, who was detained at the
Sarajevo Airport
by the Yugoslav army the previous day.
[4]
Attack
[
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]
The attack started with the convoy being separated when a car was driven into it. Then sporadic and disorganized fighting took place for several minutes in and around the convoy.
Bosnian army commander
Sefer Halilovic
later stated about the incident "our fighters and civilians acted spontaneously, they cut the convoy in half."
In his book
Peacekeeper: The road to Sarajevo
, the UN peacekeepers' commander, General
Lewis MacKenzie
, who was in the convoy described what he saw: "I could see the Territorial Defense soldiers push the rifles through the windows of civilians' cars, which were part of the convoy, and shoot [...] I saw blood flow down the windshields. It was definitely the worst day of my life."
[
citation needed
]
Aftermath
[
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]
Serb prosecutors stated that 42 JNA soldiers were killed in the attack on May 2 and 3 throughout Sarajevo and have named case that covers these events "Case Dobrovolja?ka". General
Milutin Kukanjac
, the commander of the JNA in Sarajevo, confirmed that just in Dobrovolja?ka street alone 4 officers, one soldier and one civilian were killed in the attack.
[2]
Controversy
[
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]
An investigation was opened by the Serbian Prosecutors Office and has stirred controversy both in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. Two members of the State Presidency,
Haris Silajd?i?
and
?eljko Kom?i?
, claimed Serbia's action breached the Rome Agreement.
[5]
The presidents attended a meeting with members of the wartime Presidency of Bosnia, namely
Tatjana Ljuji?-Mijatovi?
,
Ivo Kom?i?
,
Miro Lazovi?
and
Ejup Gani?
, and concluded that Serbia had breached the 1996 Rome Agreement, failed to seek the ICTY's opinion before taking action and had "therefore breached international legal provisions".
[6]
A Belgrade court issued arrest warrants for 19 former Bosnian-government officials.
Ejup Gani?
, a former member of the Bosnian wartime presidency who was among the people sought for the attack, dismissed the allegations, indicating the attack on the JNA column was aimed at striking at Izetbegovi?'s kidnappers after his capture by Bosnian Serb forces.
[7]
Gani? was arrested in London, but was quickly released since Judge
Timothy Workman
ruled that the JNA was an enemy army at war with Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus, a legitimate target.
[8]
In 2003 The International Tribunal for Justice dismissed the case, stating that the actions of the ArBiH did not constitute a breach of law.
[9]
On 3 March 2011,
Jovan Divjak
was arrested in
Vienna
due to Serbia's arrest warrant. However, Austria said it will not extradite him to Belgrade.
[10]
In 2003, the
ICTY
also ruled that there was no ground for prosecution of Divjak.
[11]
In 2012, the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina did the same.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
РТС: О Гани?ево? одговорности
- ^
a
b
"Sarajevo ogor?eno zbog Divjaka"
. B92. March 5, 2011
. Retrieved
March 7,
2011
.
- ^
"Slu?aj Dobrovolja?ka: Falsifikovanje istine"
.
- ^
John F. Burns (3 May 1992).
"Sarajevo's Center Erupts in War, Weakening Yugoslav Truce Effort"
.
New York Times
. Retrieved
7 March
2011
.
- ^
"Rome Agreement"
.
www.ohr.int
. Archived from
the original
on 19 June 2010
. Retrieved
12 January
2022
.
- ^
Mackic, Erna.
"Serbian Probe into JNA Deaths Alarms Bosnians"
. Balkan Investigative Reporting Network.
- ^
Vasovic, Aleksandar (26 February 2009).
"Serbia charges 19 Bosnian officials with war crimes"
. Reuters.
- ^
Workman, Timothy (July 27, 2010).
"The Government of the Republic of Serbia vs. Ejup Gani?"
(PDF)
. City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court. p. 3. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on June 1, 2011
. Retrieved
4 March
2011
.
- ^
Gutman, Roy (12 April 2010).
"Serbia pursues Ejup Ganic for war crimes. Or is it a vendetta?"
.
Christian Science Monitor
.
- ^
"Austria won't send Bosnia general to Serbia"
.
Reuters
. March 7, 2011
. Retrieved
March 7,
2011
.
- ^
"RULES OF THE ROAD: NO GROUNDS FOR PROSECUTION OF GENERAL DIVJAK"
. Sense Agency. March 3, 2011. Archived from
the original
on March 16, 2012
. Retrieved
March 7,
2011
.
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Background
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Anti-war protests
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Ex-Yugoslav formed countries
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Unrecognized entities
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