Serb-Israeli accused of war crimes extradited to Bosnia-Herzegovina

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(JTA) — Israel extradited a Serb-Israeli man to Bosnia-Herzegovina to face war crimes charges stemming from the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

The extradition of Alexander Zvtkovic last week complies with a request made in 2010 by the government of Bosnia-Herzegovina, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The Jerusalem District Court had declared Zvtkovic extraditable, but he had appealed to the Supreme Court.

Zvtkovic, 43, has denied allegations that he was involved in the massacre, in which as many as 8,000 Muslims were executed after  Serb forces overran Srbrenica during the civil war between populations that belonged to Yugoslavia until the 1990s.

Zvtkovic was alleged to be a former member of the 10th Sapper’s Unit of the Bosnian-Serb army.

The defense argued that Zvtkovic had been a soldier but did not participate in the actions attributed to him. His attorneys also said Zvtkovic would not get a fair trial because of the politics surrounding the accusations against him and that he feared for his life when fellow prisoners learned of what he was accused.

Zvtkovic immigrated to Israel with his wife and children in 2006 and received Israeli citizenship because his wife is Jewish.

Before his arrest, he was living in Karmiel and working in a factory and in construction.

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