Perišić trial to start on October 1

After more than two years, General Momcilo Perisic has returned to the Hague Tribunal to stand trial. The former chief-of-staff of the Yugoslav Army is accused of war crimes in Srebrenica, Sarajevo and Zagreb. Perisic trial to start on October 1 Perisic is due to appear at the last pre-trial hearing on Wednesday before the trial proper begins on October 1. The prosecution will try to prove links between Perisic and some of the gravest crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia—the massacre of Muslim males in Srebrenica, the siege of Sarajevo, and the shelling of Zagreb. All the crimes in Perisic’s case also appeared in the indictment of the late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, in which the prosecution had earlier hoped Perisic, who returned from temporary release to The Hague on Thursday, would play the part of a key witness. The general’s defense will cite the ruling of the International Court of Justice, which rejected Bosnian allegations that the army he led took part in the atrocities in Srebrenica. Serb Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Seselj is also returning to the Tribunal courtroom after a short break in his trial. It will be his first appearance in court since the rift in the SRS between him and Tomislav Nikolic. The Hague Tribunal called for a defense team to be imposed on Seselj, and complained of increasing complications in cooperation with potential witnesses, who were refusing to testify because of witness intimidation. Seselj insists on defending himself and is threatening to begin another hunger strike if the court denies him that right. Momcilo Perisic (FoNet, archive)

Perišić trial to start on October 1

Perišić is due to appear at the last pre-trial hearing on Wednesday before the trial proper begins on October 1.

The prosecution will try to prove links between Perišić and some of the gravest crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia—the massacre of Muslim males in Srebrenica, the siege of Sarajevo, and the shelling of Zagreb.

All the crimes in Perišić’s case also appeared in the indictment of the late Serbian President Slobodan Milošević, in which the prosecution had earlier hoped Perišić, who returned from temporary release to The Hague on Thursday, would play the part of a key witness.

The general’s defense will cite the ruling of the International Court of Justice, which rejected Bosnian allegations that the army he led took part in the atrocities in Srebrenica.

Serb Radical Party (SRS) leader Vojislav Šešelj is also returning to the Tribunal courtroom after a short break in his trial. It will be his first appearance in court since the rift in the SRS between him and Tomislav Nikolić.

The Hague Tribunal called for a defense team to be imposed on Šešelj, and complained of increasing complications in cooperation with potential witnesses, who were refusing to testify because of witness intimidation.

Šešelj insists on defending himself and is threatening to begin another hunger strike if the court denies him that right.