Milojica Kos

Milojica Kos (born 1 April 1963), sometimes known by the nickname Krle ("Wings"), 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.

Kos 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 became the leader of one of the 30-man guard shifts at the camp, and 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 of these abuses and the conditions within the Omarska camp, and had control and authority over the guards on his shift. He was personally involved in violent acts towards detainees and by his silence gave licence to the offences committed in his presence by others or by members of his shift. In mid-July 1992 he directly and personally beat detainees. The camp was closed in late August following international outcry in the wake of a visit and reporting by British journalist Ed Vulliamy.

Kos was indicted by the ICTY in February 1995 and arrested in Bosnia by British troops serving with the Stabilisation Force in May 1998, and transferred to the ICTY. He entered pleas of not guilty to all eight counts under the indictment, and along with his co-accused Mlađo Radić, Miroslav Kvočka, Zoran Žigić and Dragoljub Prcać was tried by the ICTY between 28 February 2000 and 2 November 2001. Kos was found guilty on three counts and sentenced to six 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 but withdrew it six months later, and was granted early release from the ICTY Detention Unit in the Hague on 31 July 2002. As of 2023 his whereabouts were unknown.