Former Bosnia general pleads not guilty of war crimes News
Former Bosnia general pleads not guilty of war crimes

[JURIST] Former Bosnian Army general Naser Oric [JURIST news archive] pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of war crimes he allegedly committed against prisoners of war in 1992. Prosecutors charged [JURIST report] Oric in August for his alleged involvement in the killing of three Bosnian Serb prisoners of war in the villages of Zalazje, Kunjerac and Lolici. Upon being charged, Oric was arrested at the border between Switzerland and France and extradited to his home country of Bosnian and Herzegovina (BiH). The charges against Oric come after he was acquitted [JURIST report] of war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] in 2008. The trial is expected to begin [Balkan Transitional Justice report] in 30 to 60 days.

The ICTY and the Balkan States continue to prosecute those accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity that left more than 100,000 people dead and millions displaced during the Balkan conflict of the 1990s. In April the Prosecutor’s Office of BiH indicted [JURIST report] 10 former Bosnian-Serb soldiers for war crimes committed during the Balkan conflict of the 1990s. Also in April Bosnian prosecutors indicted three men [JURIST report] for crimes committed against more than 300 Serb civilians between April 1992 and July 1993. In February the International Court of Justice ruled [JURIST report] that Serbia and Croatia did not commit genocide against one another’s citizens during the 1990s war.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Montgomery started racially-integrated bus service after boycott

On December 21, 1956, buses in Montgomery, Alabama, started racially integrated service following federal court rulings ending on-board segregation. Bus boycott leaders Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy were among the first riders under the new scheme. Learn about the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Stalin born

On December 21, 1879, Joseph Stalin was born in Gori, Georgia. In 1922, he became leader of the USSR until his death in 1953. During his time as Soviet dictator, Stalin industrialized his country, which he then led to become one of the world's two superpowers after WWII. Through his infamous purges, show trials and nationwide famines, Stalin also became responsible for millions of deaths.