KNEŽEVIĆ: THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE KILLING OF SERBS TO STAND TRIAL IN THE UNITED STATES

DERVENTA, OCTOBER 8 /SRNA/ - Former Serb camp inmates will soon testify before U.S. prosecutors about the torture and abuse they endured in Derventa during the recent war, when the town was under the occupation of Croatian-Muslim forces, Drago Knežević, president of the Derventa Association of Former Camp Inmates, told SRNA.

"I have reliable information that one of those suspected of war crimes against Serbs in Derventa has already been detained in the United States," Knežević said. He said that U.S. investigators and prosecutors, who visited Derventa at the end of July, contacted the Association of Former Camp Inmates and expressed interest in obtaining additional testimony from Serb detainees. The interviews will be conducted by phone in the coming days with the assistance of an interpreter. "I am convinced that justice, which is sometimes slow, will nevertheless eventually catch up with those who committed crimes against the Serb people and those who ordered them, which will represent a measure of satisfaction for the surviving Serb detainees and their families," Knežević said. The testimony of Momir Lazić on July 24 before the Court of General Jurisdiction in Derventa brought to an end the testimony of eight former Serb detainees before U.S. investigators and prosecutors concerning the torture they endured in the area while it was under the occupation of Croatian-Muslim forces. Knežević previously said that the U.S. investigators and prosecutors had come to Derventa to investigate the wartime past of individuals living in the United States who had given false statements to U.S. authorities when obtaining work and residence permits, claiming they had not taken part in the war. The three largest camps for Serbs in Derventa were the Yugoslav People's Army /JNA/ House, the military warehouse in Rabić, and the school in Poljari, through which several hundred Serb civilians passed.