Charges: man hid Bosnian war crimes

Published 9:58 am Thursday, May 8, 2014

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota man who allegedly participated in war crimes during the Bosnian war has been arrested on immigration fraud charges.

Authorities say 45-year-old Zdenko Jakisa was arrested Wednesday for failing to disclose his military service and crimes he committed in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the conflict there in the 1990s.

According to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday, Jakisa is a former member of the armed forces of the Croatian Defense Council in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Authorities say records and witnesses from Bosnia show he committed crimes that he didn’t disclose on his refugee or green card applications.

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Authorities say those crimes include killing an elderly Bosnian Serb woman and kidnapping and assaulting a Bosnian Muslim man in 1993.

The attorney who represented him at his first court appearance didn’t immediately return a message.