ATLANTA
A Georgia man will be sentenced in August after a federal jury found him guilty of fraud on Wednesday for failing to disclose his role in a Bosnian prison camp. which was part of the “ethnic cleansing,” according to officials.
Jurors found that Mladen Mitrovic, 54, of Loganville, Georgia, guilty of obtaining his U.S. citizenship by giving false and fraudulent statements on his naturalization application, officials said.
Among other things, Mitrovic failed to disclose his role as a prison guard in a detention camp, which was part of the “ethnic cleansing” that occurred during the Bosnian War from 1992 through 1995.
The victim testified at trial that Mitrovic had used a sharp military knife to carve a Christian cross into his chest, saying from that moment on, he “was going to be a Serb.” Others testified that Mitrovic and other soldiers beat non-Serb prisoners into unconsciousness or threatened to kill them with automatic rifles.
“This case demonstrates the Justice Department’s continued commitment to denying safe haven to human rights violators,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell. “No matter how long it takes, we will pursue justice, protect the integrity of our immigration system and seek accountability for crimes.”
“Human rights violators who think they can conceal their past to escape accountability in the United States are sorely mistaken,” said Special Agent in Charge Nick Annan of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Atlanta.
Adding, “This individual tried to cheat our nation’s immigration system by lying about his actions during the Bosnian Civil War.”
According to evidence presented at trial, in 1996, Mitrovic was permitted to immigrate to the United States based on his statements in his refugee application that he feared persecution if he remained in Bosnia.
In 2002, he was naturalized as an American citizen.
The evidence presented at trial also demonstrated that on his naturalization application, Mitrovic stated, among other things, that he had never persecuted anyone because of their race, religion or social group.
He also stated that he had never committed a criminal offense for which he had not been arrested; and he had never provided any false or misleading information to get an immigration benefit, such as refugee status.
In reality, as the trial evidence established, during the Bosnian War, Mitrovic had been a guard in one of the prison camps that the Bosnian Serb Army opened in May 1992 to “ethnically cleanse” northwest Bosnia of non-Serb minorities.
Bosnian government documents also showed that in February 1996, Mitrovic was awarded veterans’ benefits for his later military service in the Bosnian Serb Army during the Bosnian War.
Trial evidence showed that Mitrovic failed to disclose any of this conduct or military service on his refugee and naturalization applications.