UN war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia concerned about escapee in Bosnia

The United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has expressed concern to authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina about the circumstances surrounding the recent escape from a local jail of a man serving a 20-year sentence for the rape and sexual assault of Muslim women and girls during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.

Radovan Stanković, 38, escaped in late May from Foca prison, where he had been sentenced by the courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) referred its case against him in 2005 – then the first time ever that the Tribunal had sent a case to a national jurisdiction.

Mr. Stanković, a former member of a Serb paramilitary unit, had been convicted last year of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the rape and enslavement, for his actions in Foca after Serb forces overran the Bosnian town in 1992.

ICTY President Judge Fausto Pocar sent a letter on Tuesday to the Justice Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Barisa Colak, to voice concern at the failure of Bosnian authorities to report to the Tribunal on the circumstances of Mr. Stanković’s escape and the measures taken to secure his custody.

On 31 May, shortly after Mr. Stanković escaped, Judge Pocar had requested this information in a letter to Mr. Colak, but received no reply.