| Press Advisory |
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| (Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document) |
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The Hague, 14 August 2001
JL/P.I.S./PA018
Initial Appearance of Vidoje Blagojević to Take Place on Thursday 16 August 2001
Please be informed that the initial appearance of Vidoje Blagojevi} will take place on Thursday 16 August 2001 at 11.00 a.m. before Judge Liu Daqun in Courtroom III.
The Indictment (“Srebrenica”)
Factual allegations
According to the indictment, confirmed on 26 October 1999, on or about 6 July 1995, units of the Drina Corps of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) shelled the Srebrenica “safe area” and attacked Dutch-manned United Nations observation posts located there. The Drina Corps attack on the “safe area” continued until 11 July 1995, when forces from the “Drina Wolves”, the Bratunac Brigade and other units of the VRS entered Srebrenica.
Between 11 July 1995 and 18 July 1995, VRS forces under the command and control of Vidoje Blagojević expelled and participated in numerous incidents of opportunistic killings, as well as systematic summary executions of thousands Bosnian Muslim men. As a result of these actions, the VRS forces virtually eliminated the presence of any Bosnian Muslims in the Srebrenica enclave area, thus continuing an ethnic cleansing campaign, which had begun in the spring of 1992.
It is further alleged that Vidoje Blagojević, and units under his command, participated in an organised and comprehensive effort to conceal and cover up the killings and executions by burying the bodies of the victims in isolated sites scattered throughout a wide area.
It is alleged that, from May 1995 and during the VRS attack on the Srebrenica “safe area”, Vidoje Blagojević was a Colonel in command of the Bratunac Brigade, responsible for the security of the territory opposite the northern, eastern and southern boundaries of Srebrenica.
Charges
Vidoje Blagojević is charged on the basis of individual criminal responsibility (Article 7(1) of the Statute of the Tribunal) and on the basis of superior criminal authority (Article 7 (3) of the Statute with:
• Genocide (Article 4 - genocide; complicity to commit the genocide)
• Crimes against humanity (Article 5 – extermination; murder; persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds; deportation; inhumane acts,)
• Violations of the laws or customs of war (Article 3 – murder).
All media are welcome to attend. For further information please call: 0031 70 512 5343/5356
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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
For more information, please contact our Media Office in The Hague
Tel.: +31-70-512-5343; 512-5356 Fax: +31-70-512-5355 - Email: press [at] icty.org