Srebrenica massacre trial begins in Serbia News
Srebrenica massacre trial begins in Serbia

[JURIST] The trial of eight former Bosnian Serb police officers charged with participating in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre [BBC backgrounder] began on Monday before the Higher Court in Belgrade. The court rejected another postponement [AP report], as defense lawyers postponed in December due to they demanded to know the prosecution’s protect witnesses. The trial is seen as a litmus test on Serbia’s pledge to move past the Bosnian war which is still affecting the country almost two decades later. The prosecutor read out 1,313 alleged victims. The suspects were arrested in 2015, but are currently released pending this trial.

Serbia and the UN has taken steps to bring justice to those a part of the Srebrenica massacre. The trial [JURIST report] of Ratko Mladić has been in process since 2011. In February Bosnian Serb General Zdravko Tolimir died in custody [JURIST report] in The Hague. Tolimir was convicted of genocide and given a life sentence by UN judges in 2012. In October lawyers for the families of three Bosnian Muslims killed in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre filed a complaint [JURIST report] with the European Court of Human Rights seeking to bring charges against three Dutch former-UN commanders.

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