Bosnia suspect surrenders to Hague

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- A Bosnian Serb charged with committing atrocities in 1992 against non-Serbs at two prison camps surrendered on Saturday to the U.N. war crimes tribunal.

Dusan Knezevic, charged with a total of 46 counts in two indictments, gave himself up to authorities in Banja Luka earlier on Saturday, tribunal spokesman Jim Landale told Reuters.

He arrived at the tribunal around 6:30 p.m. (1730 GMT) and was placed in the court's detention unit.

"He is charged with entering the camps to kill, beat and physically abuse the prisoners," Landale said.

The crimes in the indictment took place in 1992 in the notorious prison camps of Keraterm and Omarska near Prijedor, where Serbs held thousands of Moslems and Croats. Hundreds were mistreated and scores died.

Knezevic was not a prison guard but according to prosecutors entered the camps from time to time and participated in abuse and crimes against civilians.

In November the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal convicted five Bosnian Serbs for crimes against humanity carried out at Omarska in 1992.

The sentences ranged from five to 25 years for murder and torture.

About 6,000 Muslims and Croats were held in Omarska -- a former mining complex about 12 miles from the Bosnian town of Prijedor -- and two other nearby camps.

New arrivals at Omarska were reportedly beaten with batons and rifle butts and jammed into stiflingly hot rooms with no beds and poor sanitary facilities, prosecutors stated at the November trial.

It was said at the hearing that three other suspects indicted by the tribunal in 1995 for alleged crimes at Omarska remained at large -- one of them being Dusan Knezevic.