SWAMPSCOTT — Kemal Mrndzic, a 52-year-old Swampscott resident, was sentenced in federal court in Boston over the weekend for concealing his persecution of ethnic Serbs during the Bosnian war and for making false claims to gain refugee status before later becoming a U.S. citizen.
Mrndzic was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper last week to 65 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
According to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mrndzic was originally indicted in Oct. 2024 for a 25-year scheme to conceal his war crimes at the Celebici prison camp in Bosnia in 1992. After that, he made fraudulent claims to federal agents about his role in the war and went on to possess fake documents that would help him later find cover as a U.S. citizen.
“For over two decades, Mr. Mrndzic evaded accountability for his participation in the persecution and torture of countless victims at the camp,” United States Attorney Leah B. Foley said. “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 persecuted.”
Foley said this case underscores how America is not a refuge for those who seek to escape justice, and that the government is actively working to revoke his fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship.
Mrndzic served as a supervisor of the guards at the Celebici prison camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s. Former detainees pinpointed Mrndzic as one of the most notable guards, remembered for his vicious treatment of prisoners. He took part in both torture of prisoners and deprived basic human rights of hundreds of captive victims.
For seven months, victims were detained with starvation rations and often forced into dark manholes that were sealed for hours at a time. Guards also routinely beat prisoners during day and night with bats, wooden poles and rifle buts.
In his trial back in Oct. 2024, survivors recalled tales of murder, one instance of a detainee’s tongue being burned with the heated blade of a knife as well as continuous sexual and physical abuse which lasted a period of many months.
While Mrndzic was interviewed by investigators following a United Nations investigation (where two top commanders were later convicted), he was not charged by international authorities. Using a fabricated story, he claimed he fled his home after he was captured and abused by Serbian forces and feared returning home due to future persecution. He was admitted to the U.S. as a refugee in 199 and became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2009.
