Milorad Trbic, an ex-Serbian army captain, failed to appear before a Bosnian court to enter his plea due to a hunger strike, according to statements from the court. Trbic was indicted in June for genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws of war at a U.N. tribunal and transferred to Bosnia. According to the charges, Trbic was responsible for the forcible transfer and executions of Bosnian men during the Srebrenica massacre of July 1995. The court accuses Trbic of being complicit in the murder of 20 Muslims who were detained in a school gymnasium. He was transferred to a Bosnian court so the U.N. tribunal at The Hague could focus on major suspects on war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia.
The Srebrenica massacre was the worst such incident in Europe since the Holocaust. In July 1995, forces from the paramilitary group The Scorpions, led the detention and slaughter of 8,000 Bosnian Muslim males determined to be of military age. Trbic was the deputy security chief responsible for military police during the Serbian invasion.
In related news, a group of investigators produced a list of 17,074 names of those allegedly involved in the massacre at Srebrenica. The names include military personnel and civilians who took part in the atrocities and range from logistics people to drivers. The list was originally produced in 2005 and the investigators will begin examining individual cases, according to the state prosecutor in Srebrenica.
