Ljubicic, who had commanded the HVO Fourth Military Police Battalion during the war, was initially indicted by the Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), but his case was referred to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2006. He has been in detention awaiting trial for five and a half years.
"I believe there is no person in Europe who has been in custody for five and a half years waiting for their trial to start," Ljubicic told the court, adding that despite everything he would succeed in proving that he was not responsible for the crimes he was charged with.
Reading the indictment, international prosecutor David Schwendeman said that from January until the end of July 1993 Ljubicic participated in systematic attacks by the HVO against the Bosniak civilian population of the municipalities of Busovaca and Vitez, as well as in their unlawful detention and maltreatment, and in the destruction of their property.
According to the indictment, Ljubicic is responsible for the murder of 27 civilians in Busovaca and more than 100 civilians killed in an attack on the village of Ahmici on April 16, 1993. The killings were allegedly carried out as part of a joint criminal enterprise that also involved ICTY indictees such as Dario Kordic, Mario Cerkez, Anto Furundzija and Miroslav Bralo.
Defence attorney Branka Praljak said in her opening statement that this point of the indictment was the most problematic, because the ICTY indictment did not charge Ljubicic with involvement in a joint criminal enterprise, while the present indictment, adjusted to Bosnian legislation, did so, putting her client in a considerably more difficult position.
Addressing the court, Ljubicic said that his role was not such as portrayed in the indictment, stressing that the indictment was based on forged documents.
"The indictment against me was written by Tihomir Blaskic and his lawyer Anto Nobilo, who falsified documents and bribed witnesses," Ljubicic said.