Change of plea for Ohio man suspected of Bosnian war crimes

CLEVELAND – A judge has set a change of plea hearing for an Ohio man accused of hiding the fact that he had been in a special police unit in Bosnia and took part in the Serb massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim Bosnians during the 1995 genocide.

The U.S. government accused Oliver Dragic (DRAH’-gich) of immigration fraud in a three-count indictment last year.

Judge Dan Aaron Polster on Thursday scheduled the new plea hearing for Dec. 7. A change of plea hearing is typically held when a defendant plans to plead guilty.

Darin Thompson, Dragic’s public defender, declined to comment.

Prosecutors say Dragic, of Barberton in suburban Akron, made false statements on forms about his role in ethnic cleansing in Bosnia while applying for refugee status in the U.S.