NATO Arrests Serb War Crimes Suspect (The Associated Press)

Originally published by The Associated Press, July 9, 2002

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — NATO troops arrested a Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Tuesday and were transferring him to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in the Hague.

The Netherlands-based tribunal indicted Radovan Stankovic, 32, in 1996 for atrocities near the eastern Bosnian town of Foca, including crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war.

His indictment mentions detention, torture and sexual assault, including rape, of Bosnian Muslim women and girls after Serb forces overran the town of Foca in southeastern Bosnia in 1992.

An officer on duty at the Foca police station told The Associated Press that NATO troops picked up Stankovic at a village near Foca called Brod na Drini.

The French Defense Ministry confirmed the arrest.