Swampscott Man Convicted Of Concealing War Crimes Quarter Century Ago

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — A Swampscott man accused of committing war crimes against ethnic Serbs during the Bosnian War a quarter century ago before eventually becoming a United States citizen was convicted of concealing those crimes and providing false documents to the U.S. government following a federal trial in Boston.

Kemal Mrndzic, 52, was accused of concealing his involvement in the torment of Serb prisoners at the Celebici prison camp in Bosnia in 1992. He was charged with those crimes in 2023.

He was convicted making false statements to Homeland Security agents, fraudulently obtaining a Social Security card, fraudulently obtaining a passport and using a fraudulently obtained passport and certificate of naturalization.

He was acquitted of two counts of making false statements to federal agents.

Court documents show five camp survivors testified at the trial, recounting their experiences of being held in lightless, airless tunnels, sealed in manholes for hours at a time and daily and nightly beatings with baseball bats, wooden poles and rifle butts. The survivors also testified to the killing of prisoners, the burning of a detainee's tongue with a heated knife blade, the wrapping of another detainee in a light cord and being set on fire, as well as sexual abuse.

The government argued at trial that Mrndzic presented himself as among the persecuted when he was actually a supervisor at the prison camp. He was admitted to the U.S. as a refugee in 1999 and became a U.S. citizen in 2009.

"The heartbreaking testimony of the Celebici survivors reminded us that the physical pain and mental anguish inflicted by Kemal Mrndzic and his fellow guards at that notorious camp still haunts them 30 years later," said Acting United States Attorney Joshua Levy. "Mrndzic concealed
his crimes for decades, but gravely underestimated the bravery of these victims and law enforcement's dedication to finding and prosecuting those who engage in wartime persecution.

"Investigating and prosecuting these historical transnational cases demands extraordinary commitment and we are deeply grateful for the exceptional work of our federal law enforcement partners and our partners in countries across the globe."