ICTY prosecutor calls for EU pressure on Croatia, Serbia on war crimes suspects News
ICTY prosecutor calls for EU pressure on Croatia, Serbia on war crimes suspects

[JURIST] Carla del Ponte [UN profile], chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia [official website], on Thursday called for the EU to pressure Croatia and Serbia to take action on arresting suspects wanted by the UN tribunal and said the EU should not build closer ties with the countries until they do so. Del Ponte said it was "shameful" that the two most wanted fugitives, former Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic [ICTY case backgrounder; Wikipedia profile] and his military commander Ratko Mladic [ICTY case backgrounder; Wikipedia profile], were still at large. The men are wanted in connection with the 1995 Srebrenica massacre [BBC timeline], which involved the genocide of 8,000 Muslims, as well as the 43-month siege of Sarajevo that killed 10,000. Del Ponte said that the EU should postpone talks with Belgrade, which is hoping to join the EU, until Mladic has been handed over, and should also not advance talks with Croatia until the country turns over Ante Gotovina, another wanted fugitive. Reuters has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

Louis XVI put on trial during French Revolution

On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.