Dragoljub Prcać

Dragoljub Prcać (born 18 July 1937) is a convicted war criminal and former policeman who was found guilty by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) of persecution, murder and torture – constituting crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war – committed at the Omarska concentration camp in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina, during the Bosnian War.

Prcać was born and raised in and around the town of Prijedor until late May 1992 when he began working at the Omarska camp which held almost exclusively non-Serb detainees from the surrounding districts who had been rounded up during the ethnic cleansing of central Bosanska Krajina. He was the administrative aide to the camp commander, Željko Mejakić. Between 15 July until 6 August 1992, he persecuted detainees on political, racial or religious grounds, a crime against humanity; murdered detainees, a violation of the laws and customs of war; and tortured detainees, a violation of the laws or customs of war. He knew that a many different severe physical and mental crimes of violence were being inflicted on the non-Serb detainees at the camp on a routine basis to threaten and terrorise them, and was well aware of the discriminatory context in which these crimes occurred. Despite this knowledge, he continued to work in the camp for at least 22 days, where he performed the tasks required of him efficiently, effectively, all while being indifferent to the suffering of the detainees. The camp was closed in late August following international outcry in the wake of a visit and reporting by British journalist Ed Vulliamy.

Prcać was indicted by the ICTY in February 1995 and arrested in Bosnia by British troops serving with the Stabilisation Force in March 2000, and transferred to the ICTY. He entered pleas of not guilty to all eight counts under the indictment, and along with his co-accused Miroslav Kvočka, Milojica Kos, Mlađo Radić, and Zoran Žigić was tried by the ICTY between 2 May 2000 and 2 November 2001. Prcać was found guilty on three counts and sentenced to five years' imprisonment, with credit granted for time served. His four co-accused were also found guilty, and two others received significantly longer sentences. He appealed both his conviction and sentence but his appeals were dismissed. On 3 March 2005, following an application to the tribunal, he was released early from the ICTY Detention Unit in the Hague. As of 2023 he was living with his family and in poor health.