Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive surrenders to authorities News
Bosnian Serb war crimes fugitive surrenders to authorities

[JURIST] Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect Sredoje Lukic, indicted [text] in 2000 by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website] surrendered to Serb authorities in Bosnia Tuesday. Lukic is charged with cruel and inhumane acts against non-Serbs, crimes against humanity as well as humiliation, terrorizing and psychological abuse of Bosnian Muslims. Lukic and his cousin Milan Lukic [ICTY case backgrounder], were members of a notorious paramilitary group called the Avengers. The charges allege that during May 1992 and October 1994, the Avengers "committed, planned, instigated and ordered the executions" of Bosnian Muslims in Bosnian Serb-controlled territory. Sredoje Lukic is the 15th war crimes fugitive to surrender to Serbian authorities since last year. However, the two top fugitives, Radovan Karadzic [BBC profile] and Ratko Mladic [Wikipedia profile], are still in hiding. The Serbian government is under pressure [JURIST report] from the ICTY and Western countries to cooperate with The Hague tribunal in exchange for the country's access to the European Union and NATO. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Indian National Congress founded

The Indian National Congress (INC) was founded on December 28, 1885 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India. In subsequent decades, the so-called Congress Party would advocate for Indian independence from the UK, which was eventually achieved in 1947. The first Prime Minister of independent India, Jawaharlal Nehru, was elected as a member of the INC. Learn more about the history and founding of the Indian National Congress.

Congress recognized Pledge of Allegiance

On December 28, 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance and encouraged its recitation in schools. The Pledge was supposedly written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus Day. The words “under God” were added by Congress in 1954. The revised version of the Pledge was the subject of litigation before the United States Supreme Court originally brought by Michael Newdow, a parent who unsuccessfully objected to his daughter's school district policy requiring daily recitation of the Pledge. The court ruled that Newdow had no standing.

Nepal ends monarchy, establishes republic

On December 28, 2007, the Kingdom of Nepal's interim parliament ended the country's monarchy and established the Republic of Nepal. Free elections were held on April 10 of the following year to elect a Constituent Assembly.

Learn more about the rise of democracy in Nepal.