Branimir Savović

Branimir Savović (born 10 June 1953) is the former president of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS) for the municipality of Višegrad in eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time of the outbreak of the Bosnian War 1992-1995. He was appointed to the Presidency of the Municipality by the Bosnian Serb authorities and became President of the "Crisis Staff Committee" established to assume responsibility for the civilian administration of the town. It was during his presidency of the Crisis Staff that the Višegrad massacres took place and the campaign of terror conducted by Milan Lukić and his White Eagles gang proceeded unchecked until Višegrad was purged of its entire Bosniak population. Višegrad has been described as second only to Srebrenica as a byword for ethnic cleansing and for humanity at its cruellest.

After the end of the war when Višegrad was allocated to the Republika Srpska entity under the Dayton Agreement of 1995, Savović remained president of the Višegrad branch of the SDS and became mayor of the town.

The witness, under the pseudonym B-1505, told how forces of the Yugoslav National Army (JNA) Užice Corps arrived in Višegrad in April 1992, under the command of Colonel Dragoljub Ojdanić, one of Milosevic's top commanders, and on 13 April 1992 took control of the town before helping to prepare the expulsion of its Muslim population.

The Campaign of Violence against the Bosniaks of Višegrad On 19 May 1992 the Užice Corps officially withdrew from Višegrad, handing over control of the town to the Serbian Municipality of Višegrad, under the presidency of Branimir Savović.

A continuing culture of silence in Višegrad A culture of silence imposed by a network of former and current figures from the government, police and organised crime known as the "Preventiva" supposedly protects individuals responsible for crimes committed in Višegrad during Branimir Savović's presidency of the Crisis Staff Committee and impedes the search for the remains of the victims still missing from that period. Witnesses have been intimidated and even murdered, as in the case of the former police inspector Milan Josipović, shot and killed when he was said to be prepared to give evidence at a trial of high-level officials. Investigators recovering bodies revealed by the draining of Lake Perućac in 2010 continued to encounter a lack of local cooperation.