Samir avdic naser oric biography

Srebrenica, and the surrounding Central Podrinje region, held immense strategic importance to both the Serbs and the Bosniaks during the ensuing Bosnian war. Srebrenica was a focal point in the Serb strategy and was gradually isolated by the Serb forces in Each onslaught followed a similar pattern. Serb soldiers and paramilitaries surrounded a Bosnian Muslim village or hamlet, called upon the population to surrender their weapons, and then began shelling and shooting.

In most cases, they then entered the village or hamlet, expelled or killed the Bosniak forces, who offered no significant resistance. Meanwhile, in a number of villages around Srebrenica the Bosniak population began to organize local resistance groups. On April 18, , Srebrenica fell to the Bosnian Serbs. Almost none of the Serbs, who lived in Srebrenica before the war, stayed in the town.

Serb forces surrounded Srebrenica and started to bomb the town. By then the town was overcrowded and siege conditions prevailed. Before leaving, General Morillon told the panicked residents of Srebrenica at a public gathering that the town was under the protection of the UN and that he would never abandon them. In July , the partially disarmed " UN safe area " was ultimately overrun by the Bosnian Serb Army , resulting in the Srebrenica massacre.

In a post-war TV interview, he stated "It's a fact that I was one of the main commanders in Srebrenica and, if I have to answer to someone, I'll answer; but I'd first have to bring up the time, space and situation in which we lived, as well as what the Serbs did to us compared to what we did to them. If Naser has to answer to someone, I'm right here and I'm not running away from responsibility, I'm not running away from the court, I'm not running away from the Hague or anyone.

You just have to call on me and no problem. He was indicted on two counts of individual responsibility and four counts of command responsibility for violations of the laws or customs of war, and was arrested at his club by SFOR on 10 April and transferred to the Hague the next day. He was also accused of having ordered and led numerous guerrilla raids into as many as 50 Serb-populated villages in —, particularly in the municipalities of Bratunac and Srebrenica.

Bosnian Serb buildings, dwellings, and other property in predominantly Serb villages, were burnt and destroyed, hundreds of Serbs were murdered, and thousands of ethnic Serbs fled the area. The trial began on 6 October and the prosecution completed its case on 31 May The defense case commenced on 4 July and ended on 10 April The decision in the case was delivered on 30 June He was acquitted of direct involvement in the murder or cruel treatment of Serbs, and of responsibility for the "wanton destruction" of homes and property.

The judges noted that militarily superior Serb forces encircled the town and that there was an unmanageable influx of refugees there, as well as a critical shortage of food and the breakdown of law and order. His authority was scorned by some other Bosnian leaders and his situation became worse as the Serb forces increased the momentum of their siege.

The three judges acquitted him of all charges related to the wanton destruction of Serb villages. The judges also took into account the lack of food and supplies and resulting lack of order and law during the Serbian siege on Srebrenica. On 31 July , UN chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte announced she would appeal against the two-year sentence, saying it was too short.

He arrived at Sarajevo International Airport on 1 July He added that he believed that the behavior of an indictee in the detention unit and in the courtroom would reflect the severity of the prison term one would receive.

Samir avdic naser oric biography

Swiss border police arrested him on 10 June on the French-Swiss border based on a warrant from Serbia. The Bosnian government saw this as an attack by Serbia to cause tensions a month before the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide. He was, however, extradited to Bosnia and Herzegovina, not Serbia. Contents move to sidebar hide.

Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Bosnian military commander. Early life [ edit ]. Career [ edit ]. Territorial Defence April —September [ edit ]. Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina September — [ edit ]. Background [ edit ]. Beginning of the war in Srebrenica [ edit ].

The attacks [ edit ]. UN Safe Area [ edit ]. ICTY war crimes trial [ edit ]. The indictment [ edit ]. The trial [ edit ]. The year-old was detained in Switzerland on a warrant from Serbia in However, the Swiss authorities decided to extradite them to his native Bosnia where a probe against him was also underway. Oric was put on trial and eventually acquitted in October Subsequently, the prosecution managed to overrule this decision and secure a retrial.

The chief prosecutor said the verdict was based on "imaginary evidence" and accused the judge of delivering a different version of the verdict compared to the written document. Read more: Bosniak commander Naser Oric acquitted at war crimes trial in Sarajevo. The case against Oric is largely based on a testimony by a protected witness who was under Oric's command during the alleged war crimes.

In court, the witness said Oric beat and shot three Serb prisoners, with co-defendant Sabahudin Muhic assisting in two of those cases. Bosnian-born Oric worked as a policeman in Serbia in the years leading up to the s break up of Yugoslavia. In , he was part of security detail for Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic during a widely-publicized trip to Kosovo, where Milosevic gave a fiery nationalistic speech which cemented his status as Serb leader.

Less than two years later, Oric was involved in the arrest of Milosevic's then-strongest rival, Vuk Draskovic. With the war already in full swing in Croatia and tensions escalating in Bosnia, Oric returned to Srebrenica and became the commander of Bosniak defense forces in He was in charge of defending the town until late May , when Bosniak authorities relieved him of command.