Jankovic, 50, surrendered to the tribunal on March 14, and four days later, at his initial appearance before judges, he did not enter a plea, saying he did not quite understand the indictment. He was granted permission to delay his plea for 30 days in accordance with the tribunal's rules.
Jankovic was indicted on June 26, 1996 for crimes against humanity committed against the non-Serb population of Foca, eastern Bosnia, from April 1992 to February 1993, when he was deputy commander of the Serb military police.
He is charged with 14 counts of torture and rape, which qualify as crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war.
The indictment says that Bosnian Serb forces captured Foca in April 1992, when the military police and local troops started interning Muslim and Croat residents.
Jankovic was on the run for nine years, the last four of which he reportedly spent in Moscow under the protection of Russian secret services, according to British newspapers.