On February 27, 1993, at around 3:30 p.m., a military truck arrived at the railway station in Štrpci (Rudo, Bosnia and Herzegovina). The truck was carrying around 25 members of the Army of Republika Srpska (VRS), including members of the “Avengers” formation commanded by Milan Lukić. Among the members of the Intervention Company of the 2nd Podrinje Light Infantry Brigade Višegradwere Boban Inđić, Obrad Poluga, Novak Poluga, Dragan Šekarić, Oliver Krsmanović, Petko Inđić, Radojica Ristić, Mićo Jovičić and Miodrag Mitrašinović. The armed group ordered the train conductor to stop the train number 671 on the route Belgrade – Bar. Twenty civilians of non-Serb nationality were taken out, 18 of whom were Bosniaks: Adem Alomerović, Džafer Topuzović, Esad Kapetanović, Fevzija Zeković, Fehim Bakija, Fikret Memović, Halil Zubčević, Ilijaz Ličina, Ismet Babačić, Jusuf Rastoder, Muhedin Hanić, Nijazim Kajević, Rasim Ćorić, Rifet Husović, Safet Preljević, Senad Đečević, Šećo Softić and Zvjezdan Zuličić. They also took out one passenger of Croatian nationality, Toma Buzov, and one unknown person of Arab origin.

Together with their luggage, they were forced into a truck and escorted by two cars to Višegrad. They arrived in Prelovoafter 5 p.m. They were left in front of the “Želimir Đurić Željo” elementary school, the headquarters of the First Battalion of the 2nd Podrinje Light Infantry Brigade Višegrad. In the school building, they were ordered to undress, put down their luggage, and remove all valuables. They were then physically abused and tortured. With their hands tied with wire and in their underwear, they were put back into a truck that took them to the village of Mušići. There, Milan Lukić shot 18 civilians. Two civilians were killed while trying to escape. One was shot by Nebojša Ranisavljević, the other by an unknown soldier who was also on guard. The next day, the bodies of the killed were thrown into the Drina River. To date, the remains of only four victims have been found (Halil Zubčević, Ilijaz Ličina, Jusuf Rastoder and Rasim Ćorić). The killed civilians were citizens of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

For this crime was sentenced Nebojša Ranisavljević to fifteen years in prison by Montenegrin court in 2002. Mićo Jovičić received a five-year sentence after pleading guilty before Bosnian state court in 2016.Milan Lukić was indicted for the Štrpci crimes by the Bosnian state prosecution in 2019. He was sentenced by the ICTY to life imprisonment for war crimes in Višegrad, but not for the murders of civilians in Štrpci. In October 2022, the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina convicted seven former soldiers from the Bosnian Serb Army’s Second Podrinje Brigade.They were sentenced to 13 years each for participating, as co-perpetrators, in the murder of 20 civilians.In October 2025, in a repeated trial, Belgrade Higher Court sentenced Gojko Lukić and Duško Vasiljević to 10 years in prison each for war crimes against the civilian population, and Dragana Đekić to 5 years in prison.

The Association for Social Research and Communications (UDIK) has organized street actions in Sarajevo on several occasions, independently or with regional partners, and also attended the annual commemoration in Prijepolje. In this way, the public has been reminded of this war crime for years, but also UDIK appealed to the state of Serbia to recognize the status of civilian victims of war to the murdered, and to provide their families with appropriate financial compensation. This year, UDIK presented publication “The Abduction in Štrpci – Verdicts” which documents all three verdicts issued by the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for this war crime. The book was published as a permanent reminder that the passengers kidnapped from train 671 were not random victims of some bandits, but planned murders because of a different name or religion.

Association for Social Research and Communication (UDIK) – Sarajevo

Center for Democracy and Transitional Justice (CDTJ) – Banja Luka

Woman’s Voice – Priboj