East Ridge man wanted for Bosnian war crimes arraigned, charged
UPDATE (December 14, 2023):
A Tennessee man charged with war crimes in Bosnia was arraigned on Thursday in Chattanooga, according to the Department of Justice.
Sead Miljkovic, who went by the alias Sead Dukic, was indicted on December 6.
The indictment claims Miljkovic was a member of the “Obezbjeđenje objekata i lica (OBL), a police force of the so-called Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia (APZB).”
“Sead Miljković allegedly tortured prisoners and then decades later lied about his identity to obtain a U.S. passport,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the DOJ’s Criminal Division. “Neither the passage of time nor a defendant’s concealment efforts will prevent us from bringing human rights violators to justice and ensuring that perpetrators of torture cannot seek refuge in the United States.”
The indictment also says Miljkovic and other OBL members severely beat prisoners under their supervision. It says they caused prisoners to lose consciousness, threatened them with death and withheld water from them.
The DOJ is charging Miljkovic with three counts of inflicting torture on prisoners under his supervision.
SEE PREVIOUS (June 21, 2023):
EAST RIDGE, Tenn. (WDEF) — U.S. authorities arrested a man in East Ridge who they say is wanted by the Bosnia and Herzegovina governments for war crimes. They arrested him after determining he falsified his passports with a fake identification.
A man named Sead Dukic has been living with his family in a home in East Ridge for 24 years, according to official documents.
But immigration officers obtained a search warrant for Dukic on June 20, 2023, and determined that his real identity is Sead Miljkovic.
The Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Unit informed Chattanooga immigration officers of Dukic’s suspected identity in February of 2022. They also received a copy of an INTERPOL Red Notice from authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to determine they were searching for Miljkovic related to crimes during the Bosnian War.
An affidavit explains that Miljkovic attempted several times to enter the U.S. as an immigrant, but was denied.
He then entered the U.S. under the name Dukic in 1999 and was approved.
The TBI’s facial recognition software, and fingerprint forensics, allowed authorities to match the identity of Dukic and Miljkovic.
His driver’s license listed him as having permanent residence at 1145 Tamarack Trail in East Ridge.
The charges he faces in the United States relates to him lying on his passport application about his citizenship and identity, according to the affidavit.
Investigators in Chattanooga began conducting surveillance at this residence in East Ridge in March of 2022.
They gained probable cause of his real identity and arrested him on Tuesday.
1145 Tamarack Trail (Google Street View)
