Serbia’s Only Srebrenica Massacre Trial Delayed Yet Again

The trial in the case against seven former Bosnian Serb special policemen accused of involvement in the killing of some 1,300 Bosniaks from Srebrenica in an agricultural warehouse in the Bosnian village of Kravica in July 1995 was postponed again at Belgrade Higher Court on Tuesday.

The reason for the hearing's postponement was because Rajko Jelusic, one of the defence lawyers, asked on Monday for prosecutor Bruno Vekaric and presiding judge Mirjana Ilic to be removed from the proceedings.

Ilic notified the participants in the case that Tuesday's hearing could not go ahead because of this.

"Regarding the request for the exemption of Bruno Vekaric, the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office submitted the decision to the court before the hearing, and the [defence lawyer's] request was rejected as inadmissible," Ilic said.

"The decision of the president of the court has not yet been made on the request to disqualify the president of the trial chamber… The court is not able to continue with the procedure before the decision of the president of the court on the request for disqualification," she added.

According to the indictment, seven members of the Republika Srpska Interior Ministry's Special Police Brigade participated in killing the Bosniak captives from Srebrenica at the farm in Kravica.

The killings started on July 13, 1995 and continued throughout the following day.

The accused are Nedeljko Milidragovic, Aleksa Golijanin, Milivoje Batinica, Aleksandar Dacevic, Bora Miletic, Jovan Petrovic and Vidoslav Vasic. Dragomir Parovic, who was also indicted, was excused from the trial due to health problems.

A Bosnian Serb armed vehicle in Srebrenica in July 1995. Photo: EPA/IGOR DUTINA.

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