World

War Crime Suspect Commits Suicide

October 13, 2000 / 7:41 AM EDT / AP

A war crimes suspect killed himself and wounded four NATO troops after trying to evade arrest in Bosnia, NATO and the war crimes tribunal said Friday.

A Bosnian Serb police spokesman in Banja Luka, Zoran Glusac, said NATO-led troops tried to arrest Janko Janjic, 43, around midnight Thursday in the house of his brother in the Serb-held town of Foca, 25 miles southeast of Sarajevo, at the border of Montenegro.

The town is under Germany's control and its troops deployed there.

German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping said Janjic set off a hand grenade during the arrest. He was severely injured and died shortly afterward, Scharping said. Glusac, the police spokesman, said two explosions were heard.

NATO headquarters in Brussels said four soldiers from its peacekeeping force in Bosnia were wounded.

It was the first time troops belonging to the NATO force had suffered casualties making an arrest on behalf of the tribunal.

According to a 1996 indictment, Janjic was responsible for running the Buk Bijela detention center where "women were interrogated and sexually assaulted throughout July 1992."

Janjic, a prewar car mechanic, became one of the subcommanders of the Serb military police and a paramilitary leader in Foca. He was accused of being involved in the attack on Foca and its surrounding villages and the arrest of civilians.

A statement from the chief war crimes prosecutor in The Hague, Carla Del Ponte, commended the courage of the troops and said, "We share a sense of regret that the attempt ended in tragedy."

Del Ponte's spokesman Paul Risley said Janjic had vowed in the past not to surrender alive.

"We recognize that the application of justice to a region that is still not at peace continues to be a dangerous business. The events of last night only underscore the necessity that those who are publicly accused must voluntarily surrendered at the earliest possible date," said Del Ponte's statement.