UN tribunal welcomes arrest of Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect

The Prosecutor of the United Nations tribunal set up to deal with the worst crimes committed during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s has welcomed today’s announcement that indicted Bosnian war crimes suspect Stojan Župljanin had been arrested.

“The Prosecutor’s Office welcomes this development and the fact that this now brings the number of fugitives from four to three,” Olga Kavran, spokesperson for the Prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), said.

Serbian authorities today informed the Tribunal, which is based in The Hague, Netherlands, that Mr. Župljanin had been arrested. There had been a previous, unsuccessful attempt to apprehend the suspect.

Ms. Kavran said today’s events confirmed what the Prosecutor has been saying for some time – namely that the remaining Bosnia Serb fugitives are within reach of Serbia.

“We hope, of course, that Župljanin will be in The Hague shortly and that he will soon be followed by the remaining three fugitives – Radovan Karadžic, Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadžic,” she added.