Nada Radoman Tomanic, accused of severe psychological and physical abuse of Serb civilians during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was sentenced on Wednesday to 30 months in prison for lying to immigration authorities about her past in order to obtain US citizenship.
Tomanic, who worked for nearly a decade in a food warehouse while living in Hartford and acquiring citizenship, was a member of the notorious “Zulfikar” special unit of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which guarded prisoners on Mount Igman during intense fighting following the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Former detainees, who were prepared to testify against her before she pleaded guilty to immigration fraud, told investigators that she was among guards who beat a prisoner, Jadranko Glavaš, to death.
“I personally saw, with my own eyes, Nada Tomanic slap him in the face, kick him in the head, groin, and chest, and insult him while he lay on the floor unable to stand due to his injuries,” one detainee stated, according to prosecutorial documents.
Prosecutors further alleged that she participated in abuse by beating detainees with fists, boots, wooden planks, batons, and rifles, and forcing them into degrading acts, including sexual humiliation.
Before the sentencing hearing in Bridgeport, it was unclear what penalty would be imposed. Sentencing guidelines in effect in 2012, when Tomanic admitted lying to obtain citizenship, did not include enhancements for human rights violations and suggested a maximum sentence of six months.
Federal prosecutors argued that newer guidelines—allowing harsher penalties when immigration fraud conceals war crimes—should be applied retroactively, seeking a sentence of 108 months.
The defense requested a suspended sentence, arguing that Tomanic was a young woman drawn into a brutal conflict, having joined the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina at age 21 amid what they described as a context of widespread violence involving all sides.
Her citizenship had already been revoked, and she faces deportation to her country of origin regardless of the prison sentence. She entered the United States in 1997.
The case lasted more than three years. In November, she pleaded guilty after the government began bringing former detainees from the Balkans to testify. She denies involvement in the killing of Jadranko Glavaš, claiming her actions were encouraged or ordered by superiors, and stated she is “ashamed and remorseful” for her role in the war.
Source: Glas Srpske
