• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

CORRECTED: Bosnian Serb war criminal faces tribunal

Posted on: Tuesday, 9 August 2005, 18:44 CDT

(Corrects date of conviction in ninth paragraph)

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 at least 100 Bosnian Muslims.

Earlier this year, 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."

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category