A D.C. federal court on Wednesday stripped a convicted war criminal from the former Yugoslavia of his naturalized U.S. citizenship, according to the Justice Department.
Edin Dzeko’s citizenship was revoked in part because he admitted he had not been truthful about his time in the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on immigration forms, a DOJ press release stated. He also admitted to lying under oath during his naturalization interview after he was allowed into the U.S. as a refugee, later becoming a citizen in 2006.
A Bosnian court found Dzeko had been heavily involved in the 2003 Trusina massacre, which targeted Christian Bosnian Croats, including executing six unarmed people as a member of a firing squad.
Dzeko was convicted in 2014 of war crimes committed against prisoners of war and civilians, held responsible for eight deaths, and is still serving 13 years in prison in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Justice Department is also trying to pull the naturalized citizenship of Sammy Rasema Yetisen, another soldier who participated in the Trusina massacre, the press release added.
The U.S. district court decision Wednesday follows the Tuesday deportation to Germany of Jakiw Palij, 95, a Nazi SS labor camp guard.
