Ohio Man Faces Jail for Hiding War Crime Past

Recently, a man named Jugoslav Vidic from Parma Heights, Ohio, was sentenced to three years in prison. This was because he lied about his past when he moved from Croatia to the United States. The lie was about serious war crimes he was accused of in his home country. Vidic admitted to these crimes in court. He said he was charged in 1994 and convicted in 1998 for a war crime he committed in 1991. The crime? He cut off a civilian's arm, who later died from the injury. This happened during an attack by ethnic Serb forces in Croatia.

What's more, Vidic knew about these charges when he moved to the U.S. as a refugee in 1999. He applied for a green card in 2000, was interviewed by U.S. immigration officials, and got his green card in 2005. Throughout this process, he lied about his military service and his war crime conviction. The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations worked on this case. They had help from Croatian authorities. This case shows that people who commit serious human rights violations can't hide from their past, even in a new country.

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