THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, May 7 (Hina) - An officer of the Bosnian Serb forces, Momir Nikolic, accused by the Hague-based UN court of war crimes in Srebrenica, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to crimes against humanity at a hearing before a trial
chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, May 7 (Hina) - An officer of the Bosnian Serb
forces, Momir Nikolic, accused by the Hague-based UN court of war
crimes in Srebrenica, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to crimes against
humanity at a hearing before a trial chamber of the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). #L#
Indictee Nikolic said he entered the guilty plea to the fifth count
of his indictment under which he was indicted for persecution.
Nikolic and the ICTY prosecution reached an agreement on his
entering the guilty plea for crimes against humanity. In return,
other counts in his indictment, referring to genocide and
violations of the law and customs of war, were dropped.
According to the amended indictment, Nikolic is charged with
persecution on political, racial and religious grounds, crimes
against humanity including murder, cruel and inhumane treatment,
torture of civilians, destruction of personal property and
forcible deportation of the local population.
Nikolic committed himself to providing the ICTY Prosecution with
information about Serb attacks against the Muslim enclave of
Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia in July 1995, and to testifying
against other indictees in the same case as well as in other cases
before the ICTY.
In the week after overrunning Srebrenica, which was a UN safe haven
before the Serb occupation in July 1995, Serb forces killed more
than 7,000 Muslims (Bosniaks) of military age. This is regarded as
the gravest war crime in Europe since the end of the Second World
War.
(hina) ms sb
ICTY).