Croatian police arrested on Saturday Bosnian national Dane Lukajic, a member of the “Jadovno 1941” association, while he was travelling to the commemoration of victims killed in the World War II Gospic-Jadovno-Pag death camp, run by the regime of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), media reported.
The Croatian Ministry of Interior confirmed the information about the arrest, noting that Zagreb police arrested “a 67-year-old citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the suspicion that he committed a war crime against war prisoners.” Lukajic was arrested in Licko Petrovo Selo, after crossing Croatia’s border.
Serb member of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s tripartite Presidency Mladen Ivanic, who attended the commemoration in Saran Pit, briefly said that the arrest-related activities have already been launched. “As you know there is no phone line here, but we already launched some activities through other canals, to raise the embassy’s interest. We will do that, have full engagement and follow as much as we can,” added Ivanic.
The Interior Ministry of Croatia said the suspect was apprehended at the Zagreb Police Precinct, where he was subject to a criminal procedure, establishing that the suspect had ordered Bosnian Serb Army on several occasions during September 1992 to “inhumanely treat the war prisoners” of Manjaca war camp near the northern Bosnian city of Banja Luka.
The ministry also said the Bosnian national would be handed over to the detention supervisor within the legal timeframe, and that criminal charges will be filed at the Zagreb County Attorney’s Office.
