A Serbian citizen accused of taking part in war crimes during the Balkan conflicts of the 1990’s has been arrested on board a ship in the Romanian port of Galati, according to a press release by the Romanian border guard. The man, named as Stevan Budac, was part of the crew of the ship which was sailing under a Serbian flag, when police officers identified him from Interpol’s wanted persons database.
“On May 5, at the Galati-Port Border Crossing Point, the 50-year-old Serbian citizen, Stevan B., was part of the crew of a ship operating under the Serbian flag. At our border control, our agents discovered that an Interpol alert has been issued in the man’s name and is wanted for arrest and extradition because he is being investigated for the crime of genocide committed between September and December 1991,” the communiqué said.
The warrant for Stevan Budac was based on a court order issued by the Osijek County Court in Croatia alleging that between 1991-1995, as a member of an organised paramilitary group, he participated in terrorist actions against ethnic Croats and Hungarians.
Budac was handed over to a team within the Criminal Investigation Service in Galati for the enforcement of the legal measures and will remain in custody until the extradition formalities are completed.
