(2 Aug 1999) English/Nat
French S-FOR troops have captured a wanted Bosnian war crimes suspect, twelve months after he was first indicted.
Radomir Kovac was captured late on Sunday night.
A spokesman for S-FOR says Kovac is the first indicted war criminal to answer for charges of gang rape, torture and enslavement.
Radomir Kovac was indicted a year ago along with seven other Bosnian Serbs for the alleged systematic rape of Bosnian Muslim women in the town of Foca between the spring of 1992 and early 1993.
Arrested by French troops late Sunday night, Kovac was publicly indicted and charged with crimes against humanity on Monday.
An S-FOR spokesman says Kovac is the first indicted war criminal to answer for crimes of gang rape, torture and enslavement.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"Kovac was a permanent resident of Foca before the Bosnian war. During the conflict, he was involved in the attack on the city and its surrounding villages and the arrest of Muslim civilians. After Serb soldiers separated Muslim women from Muslim men in Foca, the women were subjected to a brutal regime of gang rape, torture and enslavement. For his part in these activities, Kovac is charged with crimes against humanity in the former Republic of Yugoslavia. Specifically, Kovac is alleged to have participated in the enslavement and rape of Muslim women at various houses and an apartment in the Briina and Pod Musala regions of Foca. Such offences are recognised under Article 5 of the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The indictment of Kovac and others named in warrants issued on 26th June, is of major legal significance. It is the first time sexual assaults have been diligently investigated for prosecution under the rubric of torture and enslavement as a crime against humanity."
SUPERCAPTION: Major Gordon Welsh, S-FOR
Kovac, a former Bosnian Serb police commander during the 1992-95 war, will be transferred to the war crimes tribunal in the Hague.
Kovac, who went by the nickname Klansa, was a sub-commander of the Bosnian Serb military police and the paramilitary leader in Foca, 50 kilometres (30 miles) southeast of Sarajevo.
A war crimes tribunal spokesman also says that Kovac is charged with running an apartment building where a number of rapes are alleged to have occurred, as well as with participating in the rapes himself.
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch called Foca a 'closed, dark, place' in a July 1998 report, and said what took place in the town during the war 'was beyond anyone's worst nightmare.'
Another suspect listed on the indictment, Dragan Gagovic, was killed in January during an attempt by NATO-led French troops to arrest him.
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