Rasema Handanović

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Rasema Handanović (born September 25, 1972 in Sanski Most , Yugoslavia ) is a former Bosniak soldier of the Bosniak paramilitary unit Zulfikar , which was subordinate to the Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine (ARBiH), and a convicted war criminal . In 2012 she was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for her involvement in the murder of three Croatian civilians and three prisoners of war. In April 1993 in the southern Bosnian village of Trusina near Konjic, a total of 22 Croatians were murdered by the unit called Zulfikar ( Dhū l-faqār ), to which Handanović belonged, in what is now known as the Tursina massacre. She was the first woman convicted of war crimes in the Bosnian War . The former soldier confessed to having been involved in the execution of Croats .

background

On April 16, 1993, the Bosnian army around Konjic began an offensive against the Croatian units of the Hrvatsko vijeće obrane (HVO). After hours of fighting, Bosnian units broke through the Croatian defenses and captured Croatian civilians and soldiers. In the village of Trusina, a total of 18 Croatian civilians, including two children, and four Croatian prisoners of war were murdered by the Bosniak paramilitary unit Zulfikar of the Bosnian army, of which Handanović was a member. In 1996 she emigrated to the USA , where she obtained American citizenship in 2002. She lived in Beaverton , a suburb of Portland, Oregon with her son and parents . After Bosnia and Herzegovina filed an extradition request, Handanović was arrested in April 2011 and extradited to Sarajevo on December 27, 2011 .

Handanović had admitted during the trial that he was involved in the killing of three Croatian civilians and three prisoners of war and agreed to testify against the other members of the unit. These were or are still on trial in Bosnia for the murders in Trusina, including Mensuru Memić, Dževad Saličin, Senad Hakalović, Nedžad Hodžić, Nihadu Bojadžić, Zulfikar Ališpago, Jusuf Hadžalija and Edin Džeko (not to be confused with the football player Edin Džeko ) . In return, the public prosecutor assured her a lighter sentence. The five and a half years imprisonment she received for the crimes met with sharp criticism because it was too low for six murders, the critics said. The court had given the defendant positive credit for having disclosed all evidence relating to the attack on Trusina and for showing remorse towards the relatives of the victims.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Deutsche Welle : First war criminal convicted in Bosnia
  2. ↑ a b Radio Free Europe : Godišnjica zločina nad hrvatskim civilima u Trusini (Croatian)
  3. ↑ a b Radio Sarajevo: U konjičkom selu Trusina obilježena godišnjica zločina ARBiH ( Memento from May 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) (Bosnian)
  4. ↑ Index: ICZY objavio potresni video povodom 21 obljetnice stradanja u Ahimićima (Croatian)
personal data
SURNAME Handanović, Rasema
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bosnian military, soldier and war criminal
DATE OF BIRTH September 25, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Sanski Most , Yugoslavia , now Bosnia and Herzegovina