 |
Srebrenica Particpant Drazen Erdemovic Closer to Indictment by Tribunal
Yugoslavia Participates in Dialogue
THE HAGUE, May 28 (Reuters) - A self-confessed participant in the slaughter of thousands of unarmed Muslims at the U.N. protected enclave of Srebrenica came one step closer to being indicted by the U.N. war crimes tribunal on Tuesday. Tribunal prosecutors requested that charges brought against Bosnian Serb Army trooper Drazen Erdemovic by the former Yugoslavia for crimes committed at Srebrenica be dropped. This would pave the way for an investigation by the tribunal.
"This tribunal is the proper forum to try Erdemovic, particularly in regard to the gravity of his crimes," said tribunal prosecutor Eric Ostberg of Sweden. Tribunal spokesman Christian Chartier said a decision as to whether to indict Erdemovic could go either way. "But he has come a step closer to being indicted. He's no longer only a witness, he's also a suspect."
Erdemovic, a Croat, was transferred to the tribunal in March after he told French newspaper Le Figaro he had taken part in the killing of 1,200 Bosnian Muslims in a single day, personally killing some 70 people himself. Erdemovic told the newspaper how executions took place near the village of Pilica. Victims were ferried there all day in five buses.
"(The commander) decided to use the machine gun to hurry things up but it wasn't professional. The bursts wounded them instead of killing them outright. The wounded were begging us to finish them off," he told the paper.
Taking an active part in the procedings for the first time since the tribunal was set up in 1993, was a representative of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. His presence marked a breakthrough for the tribunal which has previously complained of a lack of cooperation from Serb authorities in Belgrade and Pale. Djordje Lopicic, Hague-based charge d'affaires of Yugoslavia, told the court all correspondence connected with the case should be addressed to the justice ministry in Belgrade. He added no decision had yet been made by the Belgrade authorities as to whether they would grant any request by the tribunal that Yugoslav proceedings against Erdemovic be dropped.
Erdemovic was transferred to the Hague as an important witness in the case against Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic. Karadzic and his military commander General Ratko Mladic have been charged by the Hague-based tribunal with genocide in connection with the fall of Srebrenica. Tribunal defence council Jovan Babic told the court that Erdemovic had asked to be tried by the tribunal rather than the Yugoslav authorities, despite a potentially harsher outcome.
"My client has expressed his wish to be tried by this tribunal... not because he doesn't trust the authorities in Yugoslavia but for other reasons he disclosed only partly,' Babic said. A decision by the tribunal as to whether a formal request will be made to Yugoslavia to drop charges against Erdemovic, will be made on Wedensday. The tribunal has indicted 57 suspected war criminals to date, and holds five, including Bosnian Serb Dusan "Dusko" Tadic who is currently being tried. Tadic's case is the first international war crimes trial since those held in Nuremburg and Tokyo following World War Two. |
Key Facts about the War Crimes Tribunal
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia The United Nations
Coalition for International Justice
Major War Criminals/Suspects CalTech's Bosnia Site
Reports on War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia CalTech's Bosnia Site
Berserkistan is a world news service of Michael Linder Productions, Inc.
©1995-1996, All Rights Reserved