Former Security Chief of the VRS Main Staff will enter a plea to charges of genocide in Srebrenica

Tribunal's Chief Prosecutor personally notified Serbia's Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica where Ljubisa Beara was hiding. One day later, the accused arrives in The Hague.

After the entering of his plea was postponed by three weeks at his request, Ljubisa Beara addresses his wartime comrades who are still at large from the Tribunal courtroom.

Because of the absence of his defense counsel, Chicago attorney John Ostojic, Ljubisa Beara will enter his plea to the charges against him on Thursday, 11 November instead of today. The former Security Service Chief of the VRS Main Staff is charged with genocide in Srebrenica.

A day after the RS government asked the families of Srebrenica victims for forgiveness, Ljubisa Beara – accused of masterminding the massacre in July 1995 – pleads not guilty to all the offences he is charged with

After it was stated in Belgrade that General Milan Gvero, former deputy of Ratko Mladic’s, would surrender voluntarily to the Tribunal on Thursday, OTP spokesperson Florence Hartmann confirmed that his name was on one of the last six indictments signed late last year by Carla Del Ponte.

The indictment against generals Milan Gvero and Radivoje Miletic, that was made public today, is the final word on the part of the OTP about the crimes in Srebrenica in July 1995. Twelve people have been indicted for the crimes in Srebrenica before Gvero and Miletic, including Radovan Karadzic, Ratko Mladic and Slobodan Milosevic

Former officers of the VRS Main Staff adopt different approaches at their initial appearance before a Tribunal judge

Former security officer in the VRS Zvornik Brigade will enter his plea within 30 days, after he consults his counsel of choice. He is charged with genocide and other war crimes in Srebrenica. Prosecutor announces there will be a motion for the joinder of several “Srebrenica indictments” – with a total of eight accused - which would then constitute a single case and all the accused would be tried together

Former commander of the VRS Zvornik Brigade surrendered voluntarily. He was indicted in November 1998 for crimes committed after the fall of Srebrenica. Radislav Krstic and Vidoje Blagojevic, who were part of the same indictment, have in the meantime been found guilty of genocide and sentenced to 35 and 18 years in prison respectively.

On 5 April, former Security Service Chief in the VRS Main Staff will enter his plea on two new counts in the amended indictment for the genocide in Srebrenica

Due to problems with the selection and appointment of his permanent defense counsel, former member of the VRS Main Staff – charged with crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa – seeks to postpone entering his plea for two more weeks. He had already postponed it by 30 days

Former commander of the Zvornik Brigade will enter his plea on the charges of genocide and other crimes in Srebrenica within 30 days. At his initial appearance before the Tribunal, Pandurevic stated that he had come to The Hague “of his own free will and with the assistance of the Republika Srpska government”

Former commander of the Republika Srpska MUP joint forces that took part in the Srebrenica operation in July 1995 was transferred today to the UN Detention Unit in The Hague. He has been expected there since September 2002, when he first announced he was ready to surrender voluntarily

There is another name on the amended indictment against Vinko Pandurevic, former commander of the VRS Zvornik Brigade, but that name remains under seal

Former commander of the joint forces of the Republika Srpska MUP that participated in the Srebrenica operation in July 1995 will enter his plea on the counts of the indictment against him within 30 days

Former chief of security in the VRS Main Staff, Ljubomir Beara, pleaded not guilty on any of the counts in the amended indictment for the genocide in Srebrenica - At his initial appearance before an ICTY judge, Milorad Trbic, former security officer in the VRS Zvornik Brigade, decided to postpone his plea by thirty days. He has been charged with the murders in Srebrenica in July 1995

After the surrender of the former security chief of the VRS Drina Corps, the dock is full for the third Srebrenica trial before the ICTY

Former member of the VRS Main Staff pleads not guilty to murders, persecutions, inhumane acts and deportation of Muslim populations in Srebrenica and Zepa

Former security chief in the VRS Drina Corps, Vujadin Popovic today pleaded not guilty on any of the six counts of the indictment charging him with genocide and other crimes committed in Srebrenica in July 1995. The prosecutor again announced that they would be filing an application for the joinder of indictments for the eight persons accused for the Srebrenica crimes who are already in the UN Detention Unit. The only person missing is General Zdravko Tolimir

Former security officer in the VRS Zvornik Brigade pleads not guilty to any of the five counts of the indictment, charging him with genocide and other crimes committed in July 1995 in Srebrenica. The prosecution is drafting an application for joinder of all the Srebrenica indictments into a single case so that the eight persons already in detention and General Tolimir, who is yet to be arrested and transferred, could be tried together

Former commander of the VRS Zvornik Brigade pleaded not guilty of genocide and other crimes committed in July 1995 in Srebrenica. Prosecutor prepares a motion for the joinder of the indictments for the eight Srebrenica indictees, expressing hope that the ninth person – General Zdravko Tolimir – would soon arrive in The Hague so that all of them can be tried together

Former commander of the joint MUP forces of Republika Srpska that participated in the VRS-run Srebrenica operation in July 1995 pleaded not guilty on all six counts of the indictment charging him with complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of laws and customs of war

The prosecution will today file its unified Srebrenica indictment for the confirmation by an ICTY judge. The decision on the motion for the provisional release of generals Gvero and Miletic is expected soon. General Gvero feels he's been getting unequal treatment

The judges approved the joinder of the six Srebrenica cases. The nine persons indicted for the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995 will be tried together

The Chamber asks the prosecution and the defense counsel for the seven Bosnian Serb military and police officers charged with crimes in Srebrenica to “speed up the examination” of members of the BH Army audio surveillance service. The evidence they have given so far is “long, often repetitive and of minimal value”, the Chamber notes

OTP investigator Stephany Frease is testifying about the authenticity and reliability of the intercepted conversations of the military and police officers in the Republika Srpska. The conversations exist in both printed and hand-written form. The prosecution wants to have them admitted into evidence in the third Srebrenica genocide trial before the Tribunal

Former Bosnian Serb military police member testifies about the preparations for mass killing of about 1,000 people in Orahovac on 14 July 1995. "We were ashamed of what was going on,” he says, “but couldn’t do anything about it."

The second insider from the Zvornik Brigade Military Police testifies at the Srebrenica trial. The witness confirms that the accused Drago Nikolic assigned him to the guard post at Orahovac school. Approximately 1,000 Srebrenica Muslims were kept there before they were executed on 14 July 1995

An OTP investigator had lunch with Vinko Pandurevic in October 2001. She wanted to know about the crimes against Serbs in 1992 and 1993 in the Srebrenica area. The lunch took eight hours. Pandurevic, who was at that time already indicted, but whose indictment was under seal, spent two hours denying his responsibility for Srebrenica crimes

The prosecution starts presenting evidence on the unbearable living conditions in Zepa. The first to take the stand is a Bosniak from this enclave in Eastern Bosnia. He was captured as he tried to flee from the enclave in July 1995 and was then detained in Serbia for six months

The wife of the missing Zepa defense commander testifies about how "Mladic determined her life". Her husband went missing in July 1995 after the Serb forces took control over the other enclave formally protected by the United Nations

Protected witness from Srebrenica describes how in July 1995 he survived the fall of two UN-protected enclaves and the execution in the warehouse at the Kravica co-op

Prosecution is finishing presenting evidence on intercepted radio and telephone conversations of the VRS officers in the summer of 1995 at the third Srebrenica trial

The defence counsel for the Srebrenica Seven file written motions in response to the evidence of some 20 witnesses called by the prosecution to prove the authenticity and veracity of the intercepted conversations between Bosnian Serb military and police officers. In their motions, the defence opposes the admission of these documents

British pathologist John Clark takes the stand at the trial for the Srebrenica and Zepa crimes. Clark headed the forensic team conducting the post mortem examinations of the Srebrenica victims exhumed from mass graves between 1999 and 2001

Former soldier in the VRS Zvornik Brigade testifies at the trial of seven former Bosnian Serb military and police officers. He witnessed the executions of Bosniak prisoners in Orahovac and described the moment when "a living being rose" from the heap of corpses. It was a six-year old boy

Drago Nikolic's defense counsel cross-examined the prosecution witness today. The witness maintained that he had seen the accused at the execution site near Orahovac. On 14 July 1995 about a thousand Bosniak men captured after the fall of Srebrenica were executed there. The witness did not know that Nikolic was the security officer in the Zvornik Brigade. He simply knew him as "a decent officer" who "had a great deal of success” in arranging prisoner exchanges

Former Zvornik municipality official gives evidence about his meeting with the accused Ljubisa Beara in July 1995. In the course of the meeting, Beara, former security chief in the VRS Main Staff, asked the local authorities "to assist in taking care of" a large number of prisoners he "had to get rid off"

A surgeon from Zvornik confirms at t the Srebrenica trial that in July 1995 his hospital received Muslim wounded who were later, the prosecution claims, “executed with the knowledge and assistance” of the accused Pandurevic, Popovic and Nikolic

In the cross-examination of the former official from the Zepa municipality, defense teams of the seven Bosnian Serb military and police officers argued that the people of Zepa had not been forced to leave the safe haven by Mladic's troops. This was done on the order of the BH military and political leadership, they say

When an attempt was made to use his soldiers in the execution of about 1,000 Muslims captives in Orahovac in July 1995, witness Lazar Ristic didn’t do anything. He was “shocked by the way in which it was done”, but considered “it” – the execution – to be “out of his remit” and he “minded his own business”

A member of the 1st Battalion, Zvornik Brigade testifies about the mysterious disappearance of the order on “accommodation” for a group of Muslim captives in the gym of the school in Kula on 14 July 1994

In the cross-examination of Radivoje Lakic, former Branjevo military farm manager, Vinko Pandurevic’s defense counsel argued that about 1,200 or so captive Muslims had not been executed on 16 July 1995 at the military farm as alleged in the indictment. They were executed at the Agroprom farm in Zvornik: this should probably imply that the army had nothing to do with this crime

The prosecution witness testifying at the Srebrenica trial claims that he took a rifle in his hands only once, on 14 July 1995 in Orahovac. As about a thousand captured Muslim men were killed there on that day, the witness is treated a suspect for this crime

Following an order by Drago Nikolic, the Zvornik Brigade Military Police brought in, questioned and filed criminal reports against two Serbian soldiers who “helped the enemy”: four Muslim youths who had survived the execution in Branjevo. There were “rumors and stories” about mass killings after the fall of Srebrenica but nobody ordered an investigation into the allegations

Prosecution witness claims he replaced Drago Nikolic at the forward command post of the Zvornik Brigade on 13 July 1995. Drago Nikolic’s defense denies this, contesting the Statement of Facts provided by Dragan Obrenovic where he says that he was informed by Drago Nikolic late in the evening of 13 July 1995 that he had to go back to Zvornik urgently to organize the reception of “an enormous number of captured Muslims”

The defense of the seven accused Bosnian Serb military and police officers contests the testimony of Mihajlo Galic, who said that he had replaced Drago Nikolic at the forward command post near Zvornik on 13 July 1995. That night, Nikolic had to make preparations for the “reception” of an enormous number of captured Muslims. Nikolic’s attorney claims that he has five witnesses who will confirm that Galic was there

British general Rupert Smith, former UNPROFOR commander in BH, says that in early 1995 neither party in BH wanted peace. They both wanted to use the UN forces for their own goals

Former UNPROFOR commander Rupert Smith continues his evidence at the trial of Bosnian Serb military and police officers charged with genocide and other crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa in July 1995. According to him, the situation in the enclaves was ‘badly assessed’. The prevailing view was that Mladic only intended to ‘narrow the territory’ of the protected zone

In the cross-examination, General Rupert Smith, former UNPROFOR commander in BH, said that he ‘understood Mladic’s actions’. He is testifying at the Srebrenica Seven trial

Milan Gvero’s defense accuses General Rupert Smith, who commanded the UNPROFOR in BH in 1995, of being ‘pro-Muslim’. The trial of the Srebrenica Seven continues on 19 November 2007

Former Bratunac Brigade military police officer is testifying at the Srebrenica Seven trial. On 12 and 13 July 1995, he was counting the Bosniaks who were transferred on buses and trucks to the territory under the BH Army control following the fall of Srebrenica

Prosecution witness Dragan Jovic, claims that he took the prisoners from the school in Rocevic to the execution site near Kozluk in July 1995, in compliance with the orders from his commander Srecko Acimovic. Testifying in June 2007, Acimovic claimed he had refused to take part in the shooting of about 500 Bosniaks captured after the fall of Srebrenica

In the cross-examination of Canadian officer Louis Fortain, the defense counsel of the seven Bosnian Serb military and police officers charged with crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa try to prove that in 1995 UNPROFOR was ‘pro-Muslim’ and that it made its decisions on the basis of unverified information from unreliable sources

Dutch general Nicolai, former UNPROFOR chief of the staff gives evidence at the trial of the seven Bosnian Serb military and police officers charged with crimes in Srebrenica, confirms that the ‘blue helmets’ were instructed to withdraw from the checkpoints Mladic’s forces attacked on the eve of the VRS offensive that ended with the capture of the enclave

OTP investigators and a photographer visited and identified locations in the Srebrenica area where on 13 and 14 July 1995 a Belgrade journalist filmed events and persons of special significance for the prosecution

Although the OTP made extensive use of Zoran Petrovic Pirocanac’s video materials in all its Srebrenica trials, it has not been in contact with him. What’s more, the prosecutors have treated him with disdain, calling him ‘so-called reporter’ and pretending they didn’t know if he was ‘a journalist or a policeman’

The mystery of the disappearance of original footage Zoran Petrovic made in Srebrenica showing prisoners on the balcony of the so-called white house in Potocari and a pile of dead bodies in front of the warehouse in Kravica was discussed today. The Kravica footage was taken at the time when hundreds of captured Bosniaks were being massacred in the warehouse

In his cross-examination, Zoran Petrovic Pirocanac, whose July 1995 video was admitted into evidence in all three Srebrenica trials, said that what shocked him the most in Srebrenica was a large number of ‘healthy and normal war children’ up to three years of age

In his evidence, Kenyan colonel Joseph Kingori, former UN military observer, says that ‘the Serbs openly demanded that all Muslims leave Srebrenica’. In the summer of 1995, Kingori witnessed the fall of the enclave under the nominal protection of the UN

Former UN military observer describes unsuccessfull attempts of the UNPROFOR to control the situation in the enclave and to help Bosniaks captured by Mladic’s troops after they entered the area nominally protected by the UN in July 1995

The defense teams of the Bosnian Serb military and police officers on trial contest the objectivity of the reports drafted by UN military observers who witnessed the fall of the Srebrenica enclave in July 1995

Kenyan colonel Joseph Kingori dismissed the defense’s allegations that the UN military observers in Srebrenica were ‘partial and biased’. Kenya ‘had no special interest in Srebrenica that I would have defended there’, he said, adding that ‘even General Mladic paid credit to the impartiality and fairness of the UN military observers towards his people’

Through the evidence of a military analyst and former US Army intelligence officer, the prosecution corroborates its allegation about a planned, organized and coordinated nature of the mass executions of men and the deportation of women and children following the arrival of Mladic’s troops in Srebrenica in July 1995

Richard Butler, OTP military analyst, continues his evidence at the trial of the Srebrenica Seven, Bosnian Serb military and police officers charged with Srebrenica crimes. In the summer of 1995, before the eastern enclaves fell, there were ‘planned and deliberate’ preparations for the implementation of Karadzic’s Directive no. 7

On 12 July 1995, General Mladic decided to send most of his troops to Zepa instead of ordering them to pursue a column of Muslim fighters trying to break through from Srebrenica towards Tuzla. According to the OTP military analyst, this doesn’t prove that the ‘VRS didn’t want to kill those men’. Rather, it indicates that the VRS commanders ‘made a mistake in assessing the enemy strength and his intentions’

Drago Nikolic’s defense implies that the prosecution military analyst was implanted into the OTP to be able to influence the course of the preparations for the Srebrenica crimes trial

As Richard Butler’s testimony draws to its close, Vinko Pandurevic’s defense tries to get him to confirm its argument that in July 1995 former VRS Zvornik Brigade commander wasn’t aware of the plan to arrest and execute Bosniaks prisoners

Former British Army servicewoman testifies as the last prosecution witness at the trial of seven officers charged with crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa. She confirms that she attended a meeting of the UNPROFOR commander in BH, General Smith and the accused General Gvero in late July in Zepa

According to the defense counsel of the three accused, the prosecution failed to prove the guilt of Beara, Nikolic and Borovcanin. In a Rule 98 bis hearing, after the prosecution rested its case, the defense teams call for the acquittal of the accused on those counts in the indictment that they argue the prosecution failed to prove. The defense teams of the other four accused will present their arguments tomorrow

The defense teams of Miletic and Gvero, former members of the VRS General Staff, claim that the prosecution failed to prove their clients’ responsibility for any of the charges in the five counts in the indictment. The Rule 98 bis hearings continued with the oral arguments of Vinko Pandurevic’s defense, also calling for acquittal of their client, former commander of the VRS Zvornik Brigade

Today, the prosecution continued with its reply to the arguments presented by the defense of the seven Bosnian Serb military and police officers charged with genocide and other crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa, reminding the court of the evidence that clearly point to the responsibility of the accused

After the prosecution has rested its case, the Trial Chamber dismisses the defense motions for the acquittal of Bosnian Serb military and police officers on some or all counts in the indictment charging them with genocide and other crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa in 1995. The defense will have to call evidence to contest all counts in the indictment

Judges grant the prosecution request to reopen of its case. Prosecutors want to call three witnesses who will testify on the involvement of Vujadin Popovic, former Drina Corps security officer, in the mass execution in the village of Bisina

The defense case of the seven Bosnian Serb military and police officers charged with crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa in 1995 begins with the opening statement delivered by the defense counsel of the first accused Vujadin Popovic. Momcilo Krajisnik was then called as the first defense witness

In his evidence at the trial of the Srebrenica Six, Momcilo Krajisnik claims that political statements and military orders of the Bosnian Serb leaders corresponded to the six strategic goals of the Serb people in BH ‘by chance’

According to the witness testifying at the Srebrenica Seven trial, the attack on Srebrenica and Zepa in July 1995 was initiated by Radovan Karadzic, who bypassed the chain of command and issued orders directly to Radislav Krstic, a colonel who was the Drina Corps chief of staff at the time

The defense of Vujadin Popovic contests the prosecution evidence that the chief of security in the VRS Drina Corps ‘supervised’ the executions of Bosniaks captured after the fall of Srebrenica in July 1995. According to the defense, the term ‘parcels’ Popovic used in an intercept wasn’t a reference to the prisoners to be executed but to the units that had come to help the Zvornik Brigade

Former driver in the Zvornik Brigade testifying at the Srebrenica Seven trial couldn’t remember today why he drove a truck to some of the mass execution sites on 15, 16 and 17 July 1995

Through the evidence of a Belgrade forensic medicine expert, the defense of the Srebrenica Seven wants to show that most of the victims whose remains were exhumed from the mass graves in the Srebrenica area had died in the fighting with the Serb troops. The defense contests the prosecution allegation that they were killed in organized mass executions

In their examination of military expert Petar Vuga, the defense counsel of Vujadin Popovic, Ljubisa Beara and Drago Nikolic, the three security officers among the Srebrenica Seven attempted to challenge the prosecution argument that the accused security officers coordinated and supervised the operations in which more than 7,000 Bosniaks were captured, detained and executed in July 1995 after the fall of the Srebrenica enclave

At the trial of seven Bosnian Serb military and police officers, prosecution used VRS documents to demonstrate how incidents were staged to show there were ‘threats’ to the security of the Serb population and the army in the Srebrenica area

According to the military expert of his defense, in the spring and summer of 1995 Colonel Vujadin Popovic was person in charge of Operation Juda, whose objective was to protect Ratko Mladic from the assassination ‘commissioned or ordered’ by somebody from Republika Srpska

Ljubisa Beara’s defense case continues at the trial for Srebrenica and Zepa crimes. Another witness, journalist Branimir Grulovic, was called as Beara’s character witness. Grulovic talked about the former chief of the security administration in the VRS Main Staff based on his private and professional contacts with the accused during the war

As the defense case continues at the trial for crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa, former commander of the military police in the VRS Main Staff contends that some of the Bosniaks who had retreated towards Tuzla after the fall of Srebrenica committed suicide while others were victims of ‘out-of-control’ paramilitary groups

General Dragisa Masal, testifying as Radivoje Miletic’s defense witness, denies that the VRS prevented humanitarian aid convoys from passing towards Srebrenica and Zepa. As he put it, the VRS only ‘limited the quantity’ of items such as cameras that ‘could be used to take pictures of various details in the combat operations zone’

Through the evidence of a former Drina Corps officer, the defense of General Radivoje Miletic has tried to prove that as early as in 1993 the VRS had plans for ‘military solution’ in the Srebrenica and Zepa enclaves. In the spring of 1993, the UN placed the areas under its protection and the operation launched to cut the two enclaves off in July 1995 was not a result of the infamous Directive No. 7; the indictment alleges that the Directive was written by Miletic

Testifying in his own defense Vinko Pandurevic contends that on 16 July 1995 he delivered an ‘inaccurate report’ to the Drina Corps Command about the situation at the Zvornik Brigade defense lines, painting the picture ‘more dramatic and more serious than it actually was’. He did that to justify his decision to allow a part of the column moving towards Tuzla after the fall of Srebrenica to pass through

As he continues with his testimony in his own defense at the trial of Bosnian Serb military and police officers charged with crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa, former Zvornik Brigade commander argues that his combat report of 18 July 1995 was the ‘only official document speaking, in a rather euphemistic manner, about what was going on with executions of prisoners of war’

In his testimony in his own defense at the Srebrenica Seven trial, former Zvornik Brigade commander Vinko Pandurevic contends that General Krstic, Drina Corps commander, told him he knew what had happened to the prisoners from Srebrenica…but that he ‘shouldn’t worry about it"

The operation to move the bodies from Srebrenica mass graves was conducted in September 1995 in ‘great secrecy, through the security chain of command , with the authorization of Ratko Mladic’, as far as Vinko Pandurevic knows. The Zvornik Brigade commander concluded ‘it is better that I don’t interfere in something that is not my business’

Responding to accusations levied by Drago Nikolic’s defense counsel, Vinko Pandurevic says he ‘learned afterwards’ that ‘the Zvornik Brigade security service’ participated in the operation to arrest, execute and bury Bosniaks detained after the fall of Srebrenica in the summer of 1995. Pandurevic is continuing testimony in his own defense

In an effort to contest the evidence on Vujadin Popovic’s involvement in the procurement of fuel for the buses and trucks used to transport prisoners to the Srebrenica execution sites and mass grave, the defense counsel cross-examined Vinko Pandurevic, claiming that the documents were forgeries made by ‘subversive elements’ and ‘internal enemies’ who stole fuel

At the beginning of his cross-examination of Vinko Pandurevic, the prosecutor notes that Pandurevic’s ’false report’ of 16 July 1995 shows that his evidence couldn’t be trusted. On 16 July 1995 Pandurevic allowed the column of troops from BH Army’s 28th division pass through the Zvornik Brigade positions

As the cross-examination of Vinko Pandurevic continues, the prosecutor has tried to show that, contrary to his previous testimony, on 15 July 1995 the VRS Zvornik Brigade commander was aware of the operation to detain and execute Bosniaks captured after the fall of Srebrenica

The prosecution has today called additional evidence at the trial of Bosnian Serb military and police officers. Former member of the Zvornik Brigade stated that ‘about ten days after the fall of Srebrenica’ Vujadin Popovic was present when captured Bosniaks were executed. Popovic ordered them to be buried

Professor Radmilo Marojevic has done a linguistic analysis of two combat reports drafted by Vinko Pandurevic, former Zvornik Brigade commander, for his defense. He followed it up with his theory, albeit not an entirely original one, on how ‘Serbs were trapped into committing genocide’ in July 1995 in Srebrenica

As the trial of the seven Bosnian Serbs military and police officers draws to its end, the prosecution has updated the data on the exhumation and identification of Srebrenica victims from July 1995. According to the latest data, 5,358 victims have been exhumed from mass graves; the remains of 648 persons were found on the surface and identified

The prosecution began its closing arguments at the trial of the seven Bosnian Serb military and police officers charged with genocide and crimes against humanity in Srebrenica and Zepa in July 1995. The prosecution and the defense will have two weeks to deliver their closing statements

The prosecution goes on with its closing argument at the trial of seven Bosnian Serb military and police officers. The prosecution claims it has proven beyond reasonable doubt the crime of genocide and the responsibility of the five accused who are charged with it

At the end of its closing argument, the prosecution refrained from calling for a specific sentence for the seven Bosnian Serb military and police officers charged with genocide and other crimes committed in Srebrenica and Zepa in July 1995. SENSE has learned that the prosecution has put that in its confidential final brief

Life sentence is the ‘only punishment that can be sought for these accused’, the prosecution argued as it continued with the closing argument at the trial of Bosnian Serb military and police officers charged with crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa. The defense of Vujadin Popovic denied the responsibility of the Drina Corps security officer, calling for his acquittal of all charges

In their closing arguments delivered at the Srebrenica Seven trial, the defense counsel of Drago Nikolic and Ljubomir Borovcanin have pointed out that the prosecution has misrepresented the role of their clients in the Srebrenica crimes and covered up some potentially exculpatory evidence

Ljubomir Borovcanin’s defense described the prosecution claims about his responsibility as mere ‘guesswork’. In her closing argument, Radivoje Miletic’s counsel noted the ‘prosecution has been unable’ to prove her client’s responsibility for the crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa

In their closing arguments, the defense of generals Radivoje Miletic and Milan Gvero condemned the prosecution’s ‘amending of the indictment during the trial’. Asking for their acquittal, the defense argued that the accusations against their clients remained unproven

The Trial Chamber today handed down its judgment to the seven Bosnian Serb military and police officers, finding that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused committed all the crimes alleged in the indictment, except deportation: genocide, conspiracy to commit genocide, extermination, murder, cruel and inhumane treatment, terrorizing civilians, persecution and forcible removal of population

The appellate hearing in the case against Bosnian Serb military and police officers convicted for the crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa in 1995 will take place from 2 to 13 December 2013, as has been announced at the Tribunal

Over the next ten days, the Appeals Chamber will hear the oral arguments of the parties on the appeals of the defense and the prosecution against the trial judgment in a Srebrenica trial. Vujadin Popovic, Ljubisa Beara, Drago Nikolic, Radivoje Miletic and Vinko Pandurevic were found guilty of genocide and other crimes committed in July 1995 in Srebrenica and Zepa

As the appellate hearing continued today, Ljubisa Beara’s defense claimed that Beara couldn’t have been a participant in genocide, because he was acquitted of forcible expulsion of civilians and found guilty ‘only’ of mass executions of the captured men and boys. The prosecutor responded that the Srebrenica genocide centered on the murders in which Beara had played a key role

On the third day of the appellate hearing for the Srebrenica genocide, the defense of the former Zvornik Brigade security chief tried hard to play down Nikolic’s role in the operation to kill the captured men and boys. According to Nikolic’s defense, his 35-year sentence should be reduced even if all findings in the trial judgment were to remain in force. The prosecution called for a harsher sentence for the man who ‘did everything to make the killing machinery function smoothly’ in July 1995

Before the Appeals Chamber, Vinko Pandurevic's defense argued that the accused couldn’t have done anything to influence the killing of the Srebrenica prisoners. As Pandurevic’s defense noted, Ljubisa Beara and Vujadin Popovic carried out the operation on Ratko Mladic’s orders. The prosecution said in response that Pandurevic could have issued at least ‘one single order’ to investigate the crimes that involved the soldiers subordinated to him

Radivoje Miletic’s conviction is based on uncorroborated facts, legal errors and false evidence of General Manojlo Milovanovic, the defense stressed in its oral arguments. In the appeal, the defense has contested all the charges against the former chief of operations in the VRS Main Staff. Miletic was sentenced to 19 years for the crimes in Srebrenica

The prosecution urges the appeals judges to find the five Bosnian Serb military officers, Vujadin Popovic, Ljubisa Beara, Drago Nikolic, Radivoje Miletic and Vinko Pandurevic, guilty for additional crimes, and calls for harsher sentences for two of them

Bosnian Serb officers, convicted by the Trial Chamber of genocide and other crimes after the fall of Srebrenica, have apologized to the victims, regretted the crimes but denied their role in them

A status conference was held in the appellate proceedings against the five VRS officers convicted of genocide and other crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa in 1995

After 13 months of deliberations, the Tribunal’s appellate judges have rendered the final judgment in the case against five Republika Srpska military officers. The Trial Chamber found the accused guilty of the crimes in Srebrenica and Zepa in July 1995. This is the first final judgment for genocide

The appellate judgment confirmed Vinko Pandurevic’s 13-year prison sentence for the crimes in Srebrenica. The former commander of the VRS Zvornik Brigade has now served three quarters of his sentence and he filed a motion for early release immediately after the judgment was rendered

Former commander of the VRS Zvornik Brigade Vinko Pandurevic has been released from the UN Detention Unit, having served approximately three quarters of his sentence. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison for the crimes in Srebrenica

Theodor Meron, the president of the Mechanism for the International Criminal Tribunal, has decided that Vujadin Popovic will serve the remainder of his life sentence in Germany. Based on a previous decision issued by President Meron, the accused convicted to life must serve at least 30 years of their sentence before applying for early release

The latest interactive narrative produced by SENSE is presented in the Medija Centar in Belgrade, Europa cinema in Zagreb and the Museum of History of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo