[JURIST] Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic told a Montenegrin state television station Friday that he does not think that the 1995 Srebrenica Masscre [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] was genocide. The Srebrenica massacre took place during the Bosnian Civil War [JURIST news archive] and resulted in the death of more than 7,000 Muslim men. The president acknowledged that the incident involved “serious war crimes” [AFP report] and said that any Serbs responsible should be brought to justice. His statements were condemned by the Muslim member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency as a step back in the road to trust and cooperation between Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Serbia.

BiH continues to try individuals associated with the Srebrenica massacre. Last week, US resident Dejan Radojkovic was deported to BiH [JURIST report] to face charges related to his actions as a police commander in Srebrenica in 1995. Earlier this month two Bosnian Serbs were sentenced to prison [JURIST reports] for their roles in Srebenica massacre. The trial of former Bosnian Serb Army commander Ratko Mladic [ICTY case materials; JURIST news archive] began earlier this month but was postponed due to evidence disclosures [JURIST report]. In April a Bosnian-Muslim woman pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to war crimes after being extradited from the US. The trial of eight Bosnian-Muslims [JURIST report] who were charged with abuse and torture of Serbian prisoners began that same month. In February, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) sentenced Milan Tupajic [JURIST report] to two months in prison on two counts of contempt for refusing to testify against accused war criminal Radovan Karadzic.