Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree this week granting Russian citizenship to a former Bosnian Serb soldier accused of war crimes in the 1990s.
Ratko Samac, a former officer in the Yugoslav People’s Army, is wanted in Bosnia and Herzegovina on war crimes charges connected to the expulsion of non-Serb civilians from the Bosnian town of Ključ in 1992. At least 150 Bosniak civilians were killed.
He is also suspected of a triple murder in Banja Luka in 1993, according to the Bosnian authorities.
On January 9, Putin granted Samac — who has reportedly been living in Russia since 1999 — Russian citizenship, along with 43 other foreigners.
In 2016, Russia refused a request from Sarajevo to extradite Samac on health grounds.
Among the other foreigners granted Russian citizenship was American boxer Kevin Johnson, who fought champion heavyweight Vitali Klitschko, now the mayor of Kyiv, in 2009 and ultimately lost.
Russia has previously conferred citizenship upon a string of Western celebrities, including American actor Steven Seagal and French actor Gérard Depardieu.
