Kusic, Raiko

Born September 21, 1954 in the town of Borika (modern community of Rogatica , Republika Srpska ). He graduated from an eight-year school in his native village, he entered the engineering school in Gorazd ^[1] . He was actively involved in sports, especially wrestling. He worked at the factory after graduating from school, followed the treatment facilities. In the 1990s he joined the Serbian Democratic Party , was twice elected to the Main Committee of the party.

Before the start of the Bosnian War, Kusic was a volunteer for basic military training in the UNA barracks in Sarajevo , Pazarich and Pancevo . After returning to his native land, he formed a military detachment, which was supposed to protect the Serbian population in Rogatice and throughout Podrinje . In May 1992, the last parts of the JNA left Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kusic became a soldier of the Republika Srpska Army. During the war, he commanded the Rogatitsa light brigade, which was part of the Sarajevo-Romaniysky and Drinsky corps . The Rogatitsa Brigade was awarded the Order of Nemanich by order of the General Staff of the Republika Srpska Army. Kusic himself for the eight-year service and contribution to the formation of the Republika Srpska by the decree of the President of the Republika Srpska was awarded the Order of Milos Obilic for courage and the Order of Negosh I degree.

The Bosnian authorities accused Kusic and his brigade of persecuting Muslims during the war, including the arrest and murder of about 1,000 Muslims in May - June 1992 (the Muslims were kept in the building of the Velko Vlahovic school in Rogatice ) ^[2] , however, to achieve his arrest did not work for a long time. In 2004, there were reports citing the Washington Times and Bosnian media (especially the Radio Naba) that Kusic went with his detachment to the Caucasus to assist the Russian federal forces and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the fight against Chechen terrorists ^[3] , but it turned out that it was a news duck launched by the Kavkaz Center Islamic website and compiled with many factual errors ^[4] .

On November 12, 2014, the court of Bosnia and Herzegovina began a criminal case against Raiko Kusic, having charged him with crimes against humanity from 1992 to 1995 in the city of Rogatitsa and the community of the same name ^[5] . On April 3, 2015, the prosecutor’s office read out allegations of Kushich’s detachment of civilians during the war, including involvement in 150 murders in Rogatitsa and Paklenik ^{[6] [7]} .