Former Bosnian prison camp guard sentenced for lying to get refugee status and earn US citizenship
In a composite image released by the U.S. Department of Justice, Kemal Mrndzic is seen in a set of timeline images. (U.S. Department of Justice via AP)
A naturalized U.S. citizen who’s been living in Massachusetts has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for falsely claiming to be a Bosnian War refugee, when in fact he persecuted ethnic Serbs at a notorious prison camp.
Kemal Mrndzic, 52, was sentenced in a Boston federal court on Wednesday. A federal jury convicted him in October of scheming to conceal his involvement three decades ago in the persecution of Serb prisoners at the Celebici prison camp in Bosnia.
Mrndzic also made false statements to federal agents about his role at the camp, possessed a fraudulently obtained naturalization certificate and Social Security Card and used a fraudulently obtained passport, the jury found.
U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley said it was all part of a plot to evade accountability for his participation in the torture of “countless victims” at the camp.
“By holding him accountable for his lies and fraudulent conduct, this sentence reinforces our resolve to ensure that those responsible for war crimes and human rights abuses are identified, exposed, and prosecuted,” Foley said. “This case underscores that we will not allow our nation to be a refuge for those who seek to escape justice.”
Mrndzic was sentenced to a total of 65 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He had been living in Swampscott, a suburb of Boston. The government will be working to revoke his fraudulently obtained citizenship, Foley said.
Brendan Kelley, a federal defender based in Boston who worked on the case, declined to comment on the sentencing on Thursday.
Mrndzic served as a supervisor of the guards at Celebici during the war in the 1990s, federal prosecutors said. Twenty-one former detainees described him as one of the “most notable guards at the camp, who was widely known for his particularly vicious treatment of prisoners,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Mrndzic schemed to leave Bosnia by crossing the border into Croatia and applying as a refugee to the U.S. with a false story. He lied on a refugee application that he fled his home after being captured and abused by Serb forces and could not safely return home, prosecutors said.
He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2009.