Trbic Transferred to Bosnian Court
Bosnian Serb is tenth indictee to be sent for trial in the Balkans.
Trbic Transferred to Bosnian Court
Bosnian Serb is tenth indictee to be sent for trial in the Balkans.
A former security officer in the Bosnian Serb army’s Zvornik brigade has been sent from the Hague tribunal to Bosnia for trial.
Milorad Trbic is the tenth person accused of war crimes transferred to Bosnia so far. Cases involving lower- or middle-ranking accused are being sent to national judiciaries in the Balkans – including those in Serbia and Croatia – to ensure that the tribunal meets its completion strategy.
Trbic is charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, extermination, murder, persecutions and forcible transfer committed against the civilians of Sarajevo from July to November 1995.
The indictment alleges that Trbic entered an agreement with several others – including Ratko Mladic and Radislav Krstic – to kill able-bodied Bosnian Muslim men from Srebrenica that surrendered or were captured after the fall of the enclave.
He’s also accused of participating in an organised effort to conceal the killings by reburying bodies exhumed from mass graves.
He surrendered to the tribunal in April 2005 and has pleaded not guilty.
Sarajevo officials at first opposed Trbic’s transfer to the Bosnian court, saying they were concerned about his mental health and that he might pose a risk to himself or others.
However, in a decision issued on April 27, the judges said Trbic would be sent to Bosnia because of his “relatively low” level of responsibility for the crimes committed in Srebrenica in 1995.
Trbic arrived in Sarajevo on June 11 and was put under the custody of the Bosnian war crimes court.
Lisa Clifford is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.
Milorad Trbic is the tenth person accused of war crimes transferred to Bosnia so far. Cases involving lower- or middle-ranking accused are being sent to national judiciaries in the Balkans – including those in Serbia and Croatia – to ensure that the tribunal meets its completion strategy.
Trbic is charged with genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, extermination, murder, persecutions and forcible transfer committed against the civilians of Sarajevo from July to November 1995.
The indictment alleges that Trbic entered an agreement with several others – including Ratko Mladic and Radislav Krstic – to kill able-bodied Bosnian Muslim men from Srebrenica that surrendered or were captured after the fall of the enclave.
He’s also accused of participating in an organised effort to conceal the killings by reburying bodies exhumed from mass graves.
He surrendered to the tribunal in April 2005 and has pleaded not guilty.
Sarajevo officials at first opposed Trbic’s transfer to the Bosnian court, saying they were concerned about his mental health and that he might pose a risk to himself or others.
However, in a decision issued on April 27, the judges said Trbic would be sent to Bosnia because of his “relatively low” level of responsibility for the crimes committed in Srebrenica in 1995.
Trbic arrived in Sarajevo on June 11 and was put under the custody of the Bosnian war crimes court.
Lisa Clifford is an IWPR reporter in The Hague.
