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Pionirska Street fire

SOLVED1992Pionirska Street, Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026

Documents violence · crimes against children — written to inform, not to shock.

Illustrative

On 14 June 1992, during the ethnic cleansing of the Drina Valley by Bosnian Serb forces, approximately 70 Bosniak women, children, and elderly men — most from the village of Koritnik — were confined in a house on Pionirska Street in Višegrad, eastern Bosnia. The victims were locked into a single room of the house, which was then set on fire. Milan Lukić was found to have thrown an explosive device into the room, igniting the blaze, and to have shot at people attempting to escape the burning building. Fifty-nine of those confined in the house died. All survivors of the fire later testified at trial.

The case was tried before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). On 20 July 2009, Milan Lukić and his cousin Sredoje Lukić were convicted of crimes including the Pionirska Street fire, as well as the Bikavac fire of 27 June 1992, in which at least 60 additional Bosniak civilians were killed after being forced into a house that was then set alight with explosive devices and petrol. Milan Lukić was sentenced to life imprisonment, and Sredoje Lukić was sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment.

Presiding Judge Patrick Robinson, summarizing the tribunal's findings, described the Pionirska Street and Bikavac fires as ranking among the worst events in "the all too long, sad and wretched history of man's inhumanity to man," citing the premeditation, calculation, and cruelty involved in herding, trapping, and locking victims inside the houses before they were burned alive.

A further alleged participant in the Pionirska Street fire, Radomir Šušnjar, was arrested in France on 4 April 2014. He was extradited to Bosnia in June 2018 to face charges related to the arson and killings. On 30 October 2019, Šušnjar was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for war crimes for his role in the fire and the killing of the Bosniak victims.

This dossier is based on a single detailed narrative source (Wikipedia) describing the fire and subsequent prosecutions. Two additional references — an ICTY trial judgment document and a Balkan Insight news article on the extradition of Radomir Šušnjar — are cited by the underlying Wikipedia article but their full text was not available for independent verification of specific facts in this dossier; they are included here as corroborating citations only.

Key facts

Victims
On file
Date
1992
Location
Pionirska Street, Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1992-06-14

    Bosnian Serb forces lock approximately 70 Bosniak women, children, and elderly people into one room of a house on Pionirska Street, Višegrad, and set it on fire; 59 die.

  2. 1992-06-27

    Bikavac fire: at least 60 Bosniak civilians killed after being forced into a house that is set alight with explosives and petrol.

  3. 2009-07-20

    ICTY sentences Milan Lukić to life imprisonment and Sredoje Lukić to 30 years for crimes including the Pionirska Street fire and Bikavac fire.

  4. 2014-04-04

    Radomir Šušnjar, an alleged participant in the fire, is arrested in France.

  5. 2018-06

    Šušnjar is extradited to Bosnia to face charges relating to the fire.

  6. 2019-10-30

    Šušnjar is sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment for war crimes over his involvement in the arson and killings.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • Sredoje Lukić

    CONVICTED

    Sentenced by the ICTY on 20 July 2009 to 30 years' imprisonment for crimes including the Pionirska Street fire and the Bikavac fire.

    citation on file

  • Milan Lukić

    CONVICTED

    Sentenced by the ICTY on 20 July 2009 to life imprisonment for crimes including the Pionirska Street fire and the Bikavac fire; found to have thrown an explosive device into the room and to have shot at people trying to escape.

    citation on file

  • Radomir Šušnjar

    CONVICTED

    Arrested in France on 4 April 2014, extradited to Bosnia in June 2018, and sentenced on 30 October 2019 to 20 years' imprisonment for war crimes related to the Pionirska Street fire.

    citation on file

Places

Pionirska Street, Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina

43.7861, 19.2992

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
On 14 June 1992, Bosnian Serb forces locked 70 Bosniak women, children and elderly people into one room of a house on Pionirska Street in Višegrad, Bosnia, and set it on fire, killing 59. Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić were later convicted by the ICTY; a third alleged participant, Radomir Šušnjar, was convicted separately in Bosnia in 2019.
Where did the crime happen?
Pionirska Street, Višegrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Who was convicted?
Sredoje Lukić (Sentenced by the ICTY on 20 July 2009 to 30 years' imprisonment for crimes including the Pionirska Street fire and the Bikavac fire.), Milan Lukić (Sentenced by the ICTY on 20 July 2009 to life imprisonment for crimes including the Pionirska Street fire and the Bikavac fire; found to have thrown an explosive device into the room and to have shot at people trying to escape.), and Radomir Šušnjar (Arrested in France on 4 April 2014, extradited to Bosnia in June 2018, and sentenced on 30 October 2019 to 20 years' imprisonment for war crimes related to the Pionirska Street fire.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved.

Sources

  1. Pionirska Street firewikipedia · Wikipedia · 2026-07-07
  2. Contemporaneous coverage — icty.orgnews · icty.org · 2026-07-07
  3. Contemporaneous coverage — balkaninsight.comnews · balkaninsight.com · 2026-07-07
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