WASHINGTON (Chatnewstv.com) — The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit to revoke the U.S. citizenship of a former Bosnian Serb army officer accused of raping, torturing, and assaulting civilians during the Bosnian War in 1992.
The complaint, filed Tuesday in the Western District of Virginia, alleges that Slobodan Letic, a native of Croatia, concealed his role in war crimes and falsely posed as a refugee when he entered the United States in 2000. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006.
According to the filing, Letic took two women from a detention camp to an apartment, where he beat and raped them. Prosecutors say he later abducted one of the women again, raping her in an abandoned house. He is also accused of invading homes, carrying out severe beatings, torture, and mock executions of other civilians.
“The United States is not a safe haven for war criminals and human rights violators,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate, who leads the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Letic entered our country posing as a victim of persecution when in fact he had committed horrendous acts as a persecutor of others.”
The lawsuit also alleges Letic hid criminal convictions in Bosnia tied to corruption during his time as a police officer after the war.
Under U.S. immigration law, naturalization can be revoked if it was obtained illegally or through fraud and misrepresentation.
The case was investigated with help from the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Bosnian government.
Officials stressed that the allegations against Letic are claims only, and no liability has been determined.
