JURIST - Paper Chase: ICTY war crimes trial of former Yugoslav army chief postponed

[JURIST] The trial of former Yugoslav army chief of staff and general Momcilo Perisic [ICTY case information sheet; Trial Watch backgrounder], was delayed indefinitely [press release] Wednesday as there was a procedural glitch in the naming of judges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [official website]. Perisic was indicted before by ICTY in 2005 on charges [indictment, PDF] including murder, persecution on grounds of politics, race, or religion, and unjustifed attacks on civilians in the early 1990s in conflicts in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. As well as being held individually responsible for these acts, Perisic is also being charged with command responsibility for the actions of his subordinates under Article 7(3) of the ICTY Statute [official text]. ICTY spokesperson Nerma Jelacic said that the Tribunal was awaiting formal approval [press briefing] from the United Nations for assignment of judges to this trial. AFP has more. From Belgrade, Serbia, B92 has local coverage.

Perisic was the fourth Serbian general to surrender to the ICTY [JURIST report] when he did so in 2005. His surrender was under a policy initiated by Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica [official profile] that encouraged voluntary surrender rather than controversial arrests.

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