Paramilitary pleads not guilty
Aleksandar Medić, a former member of the Scorpions paramilitary unit, has pleaded not guilty to charges of war crimes at his retrial.
Wednesday, 15.10.2008.
16:10
Aleksandar Medic, a former member of the Scorpions paramilitary unit, has pleaded not guilty to charges of war crimes at his retrial. Medic is accused of complicity in the murder of Srebrenica Muslims in Trnovo in 1995. Paramilitary pleads not guilty “I was there, but I am not guilty and did not commit any crimes. I held my rifle up the whole time because I did not want to hurt anyone,” the accused said in his defense before the Belgrade District Court’s War Crimes Chamber. Medic was convicted on April 10 and sentenced to five years in jail for war crimes in Godinske Bare, near Trnovo on July 16-17, 1995, but the Supreme Court overturned the verdict and ordered a retrial. For the same crime, Scorpions leader Slobodan Medic was sentenced to 20 years, Pera Petrasevic to 13, while Aleksandar Vukov was cleared of all charges. Branislav Medic’s sentence was reduced from 20 to 15 years. Aleksandar Medic said that he, along with Petrasevic and Milorad Momic, had been ordered by Slobodan Medic to drive a truck full of prisoners towards Trnovo, where we thought that they would be taken to a prison or be exchanged. He said that the prisoners had been led out of the truck and taken to a nearby meadow before he heard a number of shots being fired. “I saw Djole Siptar fire. Momic and Branislav Medic fired off as well once they were already dead. I was standing next to the cottage. I was in shock,” he said, adding that the others in the unit had made fun of him for not joining in. Medic said that Pera Petrasevic had later informed the commander that the assignment had been carried out. The indictment against the Scorpions was issued on the basis of video footage of an execution carried out by the unit, which was first shown during the Hague war crimes trial of the late Slobodan Milosevic in June 2005. Three of the six victims were minors.
Paramilitary pleads not guilty
“I was there, but I am not guilty and did not commit any crimes. I held my rifle up the whole time because I did not want to hurt anyone,” the accused said in his defense before the Belgrade District Court’s War Crimes Chamber.Medić was convicted on April 10 and sentenced to five years in jail for war crimes in Godinske Bare, near Trnovo on July 16-17, 1995, but the Supreme Court overturned the verdict and ordered a retrial.
For the same crime, Scorpions leader Slobodan Medić was sentenced to 20 years, Pera Petrašević to 13, while Aleksandar Vukov was cleared of all charges. Branislav Medić’s sentence was reduced from 20 to 15 years.
Aleksandar Medić said that he, along with Petrašević and Milorad Momić, had been ordered by Slobodan Medić to drive a truck full of prisoners towards Trnovo, where we thought that they would be taken to a prison or be exchanged.
He said that the prisoners had been led out of the truck and taken to a nearby meadow before he heard a number of shots being fired.
“I saw Đole Šiptar fire. Momić and Branislav Medić fired off as well once they were already dead. I was standing next to the cottage. I was in shock,” he said, adding that the others in the unit had made fun of him for not joining in.
Medić said that Pera Petrašević had later informed the commander that the assignment had been carried out.
The indictment against the Scorpions was issued on the basis of video footage of an execution carried out by the unit, which was first shown during the Hague war crimes trial of the late Slobodan Milošević in June 2005.
Three of the six victims were minors.
0 Komentari
Možda vas zanima
"Zbogom bankomati": Uveden novi sistem isplate
Podizanje gotovine za kupovinu postaje sve popularnije među potrošačima u Nemačkoj. Ukupni obim gotovinskih plaćanja prošle godine je porastao 20 odsto na 12,31 milijardu evra.
13:19
18.4.2024.
17 h
Bure baruta pred eksplozijom: Počinje veliki rat?
Bliski istok, zbog promene ravnoteže snaga i dubokih kriza, pre svega palestinsko-izraelske, može se smatrati buretom baruta i ima potencijal da dovede ne samo do regionalnog sukoba, već i do globalnog konflikta.
20:40
17.4.2024.
1 d
Rat – dan 784: Rusi aktivirali PVO; Oboreni "vampiri"
Rat u Ukrajini dan – 784.
23:33
17.4.2024.
1 d
Uništeno; Zelenski: Hvala na preciznosti
U ukrajinskom napadu na vojni aerodrom na Krimu u sredu ozbiljno su oštećena četiri lansera raketa, tri radarske stanice i druga oprema, saopštila je danas Ukrajinska vojna obaveštajna agencija.
14:21
18.4.2024.
16 h
Mediji: Ultimatum za Srbiju
Višegodišnja dilema "Kosovo ili Evropska unija", koja je lebdela nad Srbijom, dobiće svoj praktični izraz sledeće nedelje, pišu mediji.
13:01
17.4.2024.
1 d
Komentari 0