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The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
The federal trial of a Bosnian national who has lived in Chattanooga for years began on April 30 as the man has been accused of war crimes during the armed conflict between Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s.
Sead Miljkovic, 51, is being charged by the U.S government with three counts of torture and three counts of passport fraud, according to local News 9.
The torture charges claim Miljkovic severely mistreated prisoners of war when he served as a member of the Obezbjeđenje objekata i lica (OBL), a police force of the so-called Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia (APZB), which was responsible for guarding APZB headquarters.
Per a press release from the Department of Justice in December of 2023, “Miljković and other OBL members allegedly inflicted severe and sustained beatings on the prisoners, using a metal pipe, rifle butt, and shovel handle, causing the victims to lose consciousness or suffer other injuries. Miljković and other OBL members also allegedly threatened prisoners with death, intentionally withheld water even while forcing the prisoners to perform hard physical labor, forced the prisoners to fight one another, and pushed one victim’s head down on a knife or bayonet as if to impale his throat on the blade.”
Court documents also show that in 2007 Miljkovic naturalized as a U.S. citizen under the false identity of Sead ‘Dukic’ after two failed attempts at entering the county using his birth name, culminating in the three counts of passport fraud.
Local 3 News reports that Miljkovic and his attorneys previously moved to have the charges dismissed, primarily claiming the statute of limitations had expired, but also that the U.S. government did not have jurisdiction over the case and violated due process. The motions were denied by U.S. District Judge Charles Atchley Jr., who ruled, “None of Defendant’s arguments regarding the statute of limitations, due process, and vagueness warrant pretrial dismissal of the Superseding Indictment’s torture counts.”
During the trial’s opening day, the prosecution’s first witness, a childhood acquaintance and later victim of Miljkovic, recalled being abused by guards, including one instance where Miljkovic made him bend over a chair before beating him with a metal pipe then forced his head onto a bayonet blade.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison for each count. “The superseding indictment’s torture charges are serious human rights abuses that cannot go unpunished,” said U.S. Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III for the Eastern District of Tennessee.
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
