Milan Martić

A former Yugoslav People’s Army colonel told the UN court in The Hague that he saw Serbian security chiefs Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic in 1991 in the Knin area, where crimes against Croats were committed.

The defence lawyer for former Serbian State Security Service chief Jovica Stanisic rejected a witness’s claim that he saw the defendant in Knin in Croatia in 1991 and that Belgrade trained local Serb forces in the area.

At the war crimes trial of Serbian paramilitary commander Dragan Vasiljkovic, alias Captain Dragan, a witness claimed the defendant watched prisoners of war being assaulted at Knin fortress in Croatia.

Former Serbian paramilitary commander Dragan Vasiljkovic, known as ‘Captain Dragan’, pleaded not guilty to war crimes as his trial started in Croatia, claiming he was only defending his homeland Yugoslavia.

The trial of Milan Martic, the leader of rebel Croatian Serbs during wartime, and Milan Celeketic, his military chief-of-staff, started in their absence at a Zagreb court.

Five former members of the police force of the self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina wartime rebel statelet in Croatia were convicted in their absence of committing war crimes in 1991.

Milan Martic, the leader of rebel Croatian Serbs during wartime, and Milan Celeketic, his military chief-of-staff, will go on trial in absentia on May 31 for rocket attacks on Croatian cities.

Members of Slobodan Milosevic’s Socialist Party and Serbian nationalists mourned the former Yugoslav president a decade after he died in prison in The Hague during his trial for war crimes.

Milan Martic, the leader of rebel Croatian Serbs in the 1990s, and Milan Celeketic, his military chief-of-staff, will go on trial in absentia next month for rocket attacks on Croatian cities.

Former Serbian state security officers Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic, who will be retried in The Hague for war crimes in Bosnia and Croatia, are to be temporarily released.