Trial opens of Hague's most senior Muslim suspects ( 2003-12-02 17:11) (Agencies)
Judges began hearing the war
crimes case Tuesday of the highest-ranking Bosnian Muslims to stand trial at the
Hague tribunal -- two former army commanders charged with atrocities during the
1990s Balkan wars.
Retired general Enver Hadzihasanovic and brigadier Amir Kubura have denied
responsibility for murders of Croats and Serbs, many of them the prosecution
says were killed by foreign Islamic fighters.
The commanders in the 3rd Corps of the Bosnia-Herzegovina army are accused of
failing to prevent the cruel treatment and killing of detained Bosnian Croats
and Serbs.
At least 200 Croats and Serb civilians were killed during Muslim attacks on
Croat forces in central Bosnia between January 1993 and January 1994.
Prosecutors say captives were forced to dig trenches under fire or used as human
shields.
The prosecution also says many of the crimes were committed by "mujahideen"
-- Muslim holy warriors -- who flocked from Islamic countries to fight alongside
Bosnian Muslims during the bitter ethnic conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
Hadzihasanovic, 53, and Kubura, 39, were transferred in August 2001 to the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
Hadzihasanovic pleaded not guilty to seven counts of war crimes and Kubura to
six counts before both were provisionally released in December 2001 ahead of
their trial.
A third Bosnian Muslim officer, Mehmed Alagic, was indicted and transferred
along with Hadzihasanovic and Kubura but he died in March.
Serbs accuse the tribunal of bias against them, saying it prosecutes more
Serbs than members of other ethnic groups. The tribunal has indicted senior
figures from all three of Bosnia's ethnic groups.
Bosnia's Muslims and Croats began the war as allies against the Serbs but
then fought each other for territory in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic is the highest-profile figure in
the tribunal's custody. He has been on trial since February 2002 for genocide,
crimes against humanity and war crimes in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo.
