Zupljanin makes initial appearance before UN tribunal

24/06/2008

Former Bosnian Serb police commander Stojan Zupljanin made his first appearance before UN judges in The Hague on Monday, saying he would enter a plea on charges of murder, torture, persecution and other war crimes within a month.

(AKI - 24/06/08; AP, AFP, Reuters, BBC, B92, ICTY - 23/06/08)

Former Bosnian Serb police officer Stojan Zupljanin makes his initial appearance at the war crimes tribunal on Monday (June 23rd) in The Hague. [Getty Images]

A top Bosnian Serb war crimes indictee refused to enter a plea during his first appearance before judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Monday (June 23rd), two days after his transfer to The Hague.

Stojan Zupljanin, 56, a former police commander and adviser to wartime Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic, was arrested on June 11th, nearly nine years after his initial indictment by the UN. He now faces 12 counts of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war for persecution, murder, torture, deportation and other atrocities committed against non-Serbs in the early phase of the 1992-1995 conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

Zupljanin said he would enter a plea within the 30-day deadline provided by law.

He told presiding Judge Ole Bjorn Stole that he was "very unhappy" about the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s. He voiced hope that the three war crimes fugitives still sought by the ICTY -- Karadzic, Bosnian Serb military commander Ratko Mladic, and Croatian Serb rebel leader Goran Hadzic -- are still alive. But he feared "that perhaps night has swallowed up" his "remaining brothers".

Denying that Serb authorities aided him and the other three men, he claimed that they even conspired to kill the fugitives in the name of Serbia and Republika Srpska's best interests.

"It was a time of fear, hiding and concern," Zupljanin said. "Compared to all of these, prison was welcome."

About a week before Zupljanin's arrest, chief UN prosecutor Serge Brammertz insisted to the UN Security Council that the indictees still sought by The Hague tribunal were "within reach of the Serbian authorities".

He said Serbia was "partially satisfactory" in co-operating with the ICTY on archival access but was "unsatisfactory" in helping capture the indictees.

Full co-operation with the UN tribunal is a key condition for Serbia's EU accession. Belgrade officials said the arrest demonstrated their commitment to meeting their country's obligations towards the ICTY.