Trial in the Srebrenica-Kravica Case Begins Before the Higher Court in Belgrade

(Patria) - The Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide and the Humanitarian Law Fund (FHP) are inviting interested parties to register to follow the trial before the Higher Court in Belgrade, in the Srebrenica-Kravica case, on March 19, 2018, starting at 2:30 PM. The purpose of following war crimes trials is to enable the interested public to be better informed and to gain firsthand experience of ongoing trials before the competent court in Serbia, thereby affirming the public's right to know about war crimes trials.

Eight defendants, former members of the "Jahorina" Training Center of the Special Brigade of the Police, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Republika Srpska, are on trial in the Srebrenica-Kravica case. The defendants are accused of having committed the murder of at least 1,313 Bosniak civilians from Srebrenica on July 14, 1995, inside, in front of, and in the immediate vicinity of the agricultural cooperative hangar in the village of Kravica (Bratunac, BiH). The War Crimes Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Serbia filed the indictment in this case in September 2015, but the trial did not begin until December 2016. The indictment charges the defendants with committing a war crime against the civilian population.

"Informing the public about war crimes judicial proceedings and the facts established during these proceedings is one of the prerequisites for an objective understanding of the past and the creation of social memory about the committed crimes and their victims, which is particularly important, considering that neither the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Serbia, nor the War Crimes Departments of the Higher and Appellate Courts in Belgrade have developed information programs. The Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide and FHP invite all interested adults to register to attend the trial at the specified time. In case of a large number of applicants, priority will be given to journalists, civil society organization activists, artists, and students," the Association of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide announced.