Miran Kostic, 66, of Boise, has been indicted on charges that he lied on his citizenship application to conceal his role in the abuse of prisoners while a high-level official in the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia.
Kostic is charged with attempted naturalization fraud and making false statements to law enforcement agents. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each count of attempted naturalization fraud and 5 years for false statements. The case is being tried in the U.S. District of Idaho and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Idaho and the Department of Justice's Criminal Division Human Rights and Special Prosecutions section.
According to court documents, Kostic is accused of pistol-whipping prisoners; beating them with wooden clubs, stakes and his fists; and kicking them, causing them to lose consciousness. He also forced prisoners to beat each other and ordered other members of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia to beat prisoners.
In his applications to become a U.S. citizen and in interviews with the FBI and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, he repeatedly lied about the abuse he ordered or participated in. He also failed to disclose war crimes charges filed against him in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations Seattle and the FBI, with coordination provided by the Department of Homeland Security's Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center and USCIS's Office of Fraud Detection and National Security. The Justice Department's Office of International Affairs assisted by securing evidence. The Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the United Nations' International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals also provided assistance.