Three separate victims said an East Ridge man was among guards who tortured them at a Bosnian prison in the 1990s, according to court filings this week.
Sead Miljković, 51, pleaded not guilty to three federal counts of torture in Chattanooga's federal court Thursday. Miljković previously pleaded not guilty to three charges of passport fraud in June.
Miljković worked in security at a fort at the headquarters for the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia, a self-proclaimed government group of Bosnian Muslims opposed to the nation's central government, court filings say.
(READ MORE: Chattanooga man charged with torturing Bosnian prisoners of war)
Bosnian Muslims fighting against the autonomous group's army were captured and brought to the fort from detention camps starting in late 1994, according to court documents.
There, prisoners were forced into labor and suffered threats and beatings at the hands of guards, including Miljković, an indictment alleges. Guards withheld water from working prisoners and made prisoners fight each other, according to the indictment.
According to three victims, Miljković participated in beating unarmed prisoners and making threats that made prisoners believe they were going to die.
Miljković was arrested in June at his home in East Ridge after investigators found he was using a passport he got by giving false information on his application, according to court documents.
He was also linked to a "red notice" sent by Interpol to Homeland Security in 2022, court filings state, which flagged him as wanted in Bosnia and Herzegovina for crimes committed during the Bosnian War. A red notice, according to Interpol, is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action.
(READ MORE: East Ridge man arrested, may face Bosnian war crimes allegations)
Miljković went by Sead Dukic after moving to the United States, according to court documents. He tried to enter the U.S. twice before successfully immigrating in 1999, filings state. He was naturalized as a citizen after moving, his attorney, Bryan Hoss, said by phone.
It's rare for U.S. prosecutors to take on cases of war crimes committed abroad, Hoss said. Miljković has also prepared to face charges in Bosnia, Hoss said.
"Bosnia has their own court procedure on how to deal with these cases," Hoss said in a phone interview. "Why does the U.S. have any interest in wasting government resources when the countries can do it themselves?"
The indictment says the offenses happened "outside the jurisdiction of any particular state or district" in the United States. It says the charges are being filed in Tennessee because Miljković lives in East Ridge.
Representatives with the Department of Justice and Homeland Security Investigations declined to comment on the case Friday.
"The United States is not a safe haven for war criminals and human rights violators," Rana Saoud, special agent in charge at the Nashville Homeland Security office, said in a news release Thursday. "Thanks to the dedication of our HSI Chattanooga special agents, Miljković will now have to answer these allegations in court."
The first victim cited in the indictment alleged Miljković and other guards beat him severely and repeatedly, using items that include a rubber baton, metal pipe and rifle butt to hit him. The victim also alleged Miljković threatened to impale his head on a knife or bayonet blade attached to the back of a chair.
Another victim described being beaten with "bats, spades, sticks and the handle of a shovel," causing serious injuries, according to the indictment. That victim also alleged guards, including Miljković, made the prisoners fight and threatened to kill them.
The third victim included in the indictment told investigators that guards beat him with instruments that included a baton and shovel handle, making him to lose consciousness and think he was going to die.
"These are allegations of aggravated assault in state court," Hoss said.
Miljković was released on a $30,000 own recognizance bond after his June arrest — which means he did not have to make any payment — and has to comply with conditions including going to psychiatric treatment required by a probation officer.
The Bosnian War was fought in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Broadly accepted independent estimates put the death toll at about 100,000. More than 2 million people were displaced during the conflict, Britannica said. The Bosnian War ended after a final cease-fire was negotiated in Dayton, Ohio.
Contact Ellen Gerst at egerst@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6319.