Former Bosnian Presidency member Ante Jelavic told Judge Guy van Craen he pleaded not guilty because he had not taken any action he was charged with.
The indictment was filed by John McNair, chief of the State Prosecutor's Office department for organised and white-collar crime and corruption. Aside from Jelavic, it charges former Croat-Muslim entity Defence Minister Miroslav Prce, former Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) officials Marko Tomic, Ivo Andric Luzanski and Zdravko Batinic, Petar Milic of the Croatian Democratic Christians, and former deputy commander of the Croat-Muslim entity army Dragan Curcic.
They are accused of initiating the establishment of the Croatian People's Assembly as a parallel body of authority in areas of Bosnia mostly populated by Croats.
The Prosecutor's Office claims the establishment of the assembly was an attempt to separate parts of Bosnia's territory. The indictment in particular charges Jelavic, Prce and Curcic of attempting to unlawfully dissolve the Croat component of the Croat-Muslim entity army.
The Croatian People's Assembly and the dissolving of Croat military units were the HDZ's response to the takeover of authority in the country by a wide coalition led by the Social Democratic Party, which won the majority of the vote at autumn 2000 elections.
Jelavic said today his activity in the assembly had been the result of his opposition to forced changes to the Dayton peace agreement.
He told the judge he had been elected to the state presidency by 95 percent of the Croat electorate, whom he had an obligation to represent, and that the assembly had been an acceptable form of protecting national interests.
Luzanski, a former entity president, said today his political engagement had been aimed at ensuring the equality of Bosnia's three peoples.
Milic was the only one who did not formally complete his plea entering because his court-appointed counsel requested about 10 more days to examine the indictment.
Counsel for the other accused, particularly Jelavic's Josip Muselimovic, reiterated the Bosnian Court and the State Prosecutor's Office were not competent for the case. They had already made this claim in the Hercegovacka Banka case, in which Jelavic and Prce are also accused for mismanagement of funds. Prce pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in jail.
The main hearing in the Croatian People's Assembly case will likely start later this year.