Ranko Cesic was a member of the Bosnian Serb Territorial Defence near Brcko, Bosnia and Herzegovina and a member of a special police team at the Brcko police station in 1992. One of his tasks was to arrest specific non-Serbs and bring them to the police station or to the Luka Detention Camp for interrogation where he beat, humiliated, and murdered detainees. In total he admitted killing 10 individuals, two of whom died as a result of beatings and eight other were shot dead. .

Cesic was brought before the ICTY at The Hague for his role in the commission of crimes in collection centers in the municipality of Brcko (Bosnia and Herzegovina) in May 1992. On 8 October 2003, Cesic pleaded guilty to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and subsequently, the Trial Chamber entered a finding of guilt. He substantially cooperated with the Prosecution and agreed to testify in other proceedings before the Tribunal. Cesic was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment and was later released in 2014 after successfully completing 2/3rds of his sentence.

Convictions under internaional law:
Murder, humiliating and degrading treatment (violations of the laws or customs of war)
• Cesic took five men out of the Brcko Partizan sports hall, where they were detained, made them line up and shot and killed them.
• He ordered a detainee at the Luka camp to say goodbye and shake hands with other detainees, before beating and killing him.

Murder, rape which includes other forms of sexual assault (crimes against humanity)
• Cesic forced two brothers detained at the Luka camp to perform fellatio on each other, at gunpoint, in the presence of others.
• In total, Cesic admitted to killing 10 individuals, two of whom died as a result of beatings

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is a United Nations court of law dealing with war crimes that took place during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990’s.

Two page handwritten letter from Cesic (front of pages). Letter is general content and is signed Ranko and dated. Envelope is not included. A quite unique item.