The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit to strip U.S. citizenship from a former Bosnian Serb military officer accused of concealing his role in war crimes during the Bosnian conflict, including torture and sexual assault of civilians.
Slobodan Letic, originally from Croatia, is alleged to have hidden his participation in atrocities committed in 1992 when he applied for refugee status and later citizenship. The denaturalization action filed in Virginia’s Western District represents the government’s attempt to revoke citizenship that officials say was fraudulently obtained.
“The United States is not a safe haven for war criminals and human rights violators,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Letic entered our country posing as a victim of persecution when in fact he had committed horrendous acts as a persecutor of others,” he stated in the department’s announcement.
From “Refugee” to Citizen Under False Pretenses
Letic’s journey to American citizenship began in 2000 when he entered the U.S. claiming refugee status. Six years later, on September 22, 2006, he was granted citizenship. But according to federal investigators, his application concealed crucial information that would have disqualified him from both refugee status and naturalization.
What exactly did Letic hide? The Justice Department claims he systematically obscured two damning parts of his past: his direct involvement in war crimes during the Bosnian conflict and subsequent corruption-related criminal convictions he received while serving as a police officer after the war.
The allegations are particularly troubling given the brutal nature of the Bosnian War, which saw widespread ethnic cleansing and civilian targeting between 1992 and 1995. Thousands of war crimes were documented during this period, with many perpetrators still facing justice decades later.
Legal Framework for Denaturalization
Can the government actually take away someone’s citizenship? Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the answer is yes — when that citizenship was obtained through fraud or willful misrepresentation of material facts.
The case didn’t materialize overnight. It involved coordination between multiple agencies, including the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. The Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation led the investigation with additional support from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and even the government of Bosnia, which provided critical information.
Still, the Justice Department emphasized that these accusations remain allegations at this stage. “The claims made in the complaint are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability,” the department noted in its release.
This case highlights the ongoing efforts to identify those who may have participated in war crimes abroad before seeking refuge in the United States. The Justice Department has pursued dozens of similar cases in recent years, particularly involving participants in conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and other regions marked by widespread human rights abuses.
“He took advantage of our generous system for refugee admissions and should not have been granted U.S. citizenship,” Shumate added. “This action seeks to redress that wrong, and we are committed to upholding the integrity of the naturalization process against fraud and misrepresentation.”
For now, Letic faces a civil proceeding rather than criminal charges in the U.S., though the outcome could result in his deportation if the government prevails — potentially sending him back to face justice in the region where his alleged crimes occurred.
