Bosnian Serb war criminal agrees to face tribunal

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) – A former Bosnian Serb
paramilitary leader sought by international courts for crimes
against humanity agreed on Tuesday to be extradited and face
charges before a U.N. tribunal, according to court documents.

In a court appearance a day after his capture in Buenos
Aires, Milan Lukic dismissed allegations he committed
atrocities during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war.

“I want to tell the truth and remove this stain from my
life because I’ve been accused of something I did not do,”
Lukic said, according to a transcript of the court proceedings
obtained by Reuters.

Lukic “expressed his willingness to be sent to the
International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague on condition it be
done as soon as possible,” according to the documents.

Serb officials say Lukic led a paramilitary group known as
“The Avengers” or “White Eagles.” He also has been linked to
several prominent killings during the war.

He had been on the run for years before his arrest on
Monday.

Lukic has not commented publicly since his arrest and
Argentine officials did not say when he might be extradited.

Serb officials say Lukic’s paramilitary group is believed
to be responsible for the abduction, torture and killing of
some at least 100 Bosnian Muslims.

In 1992, he was convicted for the murders of 16 Muslims and
sentenced in absentia by a Belgrade court to 20 years in
prison. In that case, Muslim men and women were kidnapped from
a bus and their bodies later thrown into a river.

Lukic faces other charges, including an indictment by a
U.N. war crimes court blaming him for “the extermination of a
significant number of Bosnian Muslim civilians, including
women, children and the elderly.”