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Press Release . Communiqué de presse
(Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document)
The Hague, 7 May 2003
JM/P.I.S./750-e
TRIAL OF MOMCILO KRAJISNIK TO BEGIN ON MONDAY 12 MAY 2003
The trial of Momcilo Krajisnik is scheduled to begin on Monday 12 May 2003 at 9.00 a.m. in Courtroom I. The Trial Chamber will be composed of Judge Alphons Orie (presiding), Judge Amin El Mahdi and Judge Joaquín Martín Canivell.
Background on the Accused
Momcilo Krajisnik was born on 20 January 1945 in Zabrdje, municipality of Novi Grad, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The amended consolidated Indictment, filed on 7 March 2002 pursuant to a Decision of the Trial Chamber dated 4 March 2002, generally alleges that Momcilo Krajisnik, a leading member of the Serbian Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina ("SDS") was President of the
Assembly of Serbian People in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 24 October 1991 until at least November 1995. The Indictment also alleges that Krajisnik was a member of the National Security Council of the so-called "Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina" from the beginning of June 1992 until 17 December 1992, and that he also served on the expanded Presidency of the "Serbian
Republic".
Factual allegations
According to the Indictment, Krajisnik worked in concert with other members of a joint criminal enterprise, including among others, Slobodan Milosevic, Zeljko Raznatovic aka "Arkan", Biljana Plavsic and Radovan Karadzic. The objective of the joint criminal enterprise was the permanent removal, by force or other means, of Bosnian Muslim, Bosnian Croat or other non-Serb inhabitants from
large areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Indictment alleges that "the objective of the joint criminal enterprise was primarily achieved through a manifest pattern of persecutions as alleged in the Indictment. In some municipalities this campaign of persecutions included or escalated to include conduct committed with the intent to destroy in part the national, ethnical, racial or religious groups of Bosnian
Muslims and Bosnian Croats as such. In these municipalities a significant section of the Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat groups, namely their leaderships, as well as a substantial number of the members of the groups were targeted by Bosnian Serb Forces and Bosnian Serb Political and Governmental Organs and their agents for intended destruction. The most extreme manifestations of this
form of partial destruction of the Bosnian Muslims and Bosnian Croats took place in Bosanski Novi, Brcko, Kljuc, Kotor Varos, Prijedor and Sanski Most".
Charges
The Indictment charges Momcilo Krajisnik on the basis of individual criminal responsibility (Article 7(1) of the Statute) and superior criminal responsibility (Article 7(3) of the Statute) with:
Two counts of genocide (Article 4 of the Statute – genocide; and/or complicity to commit genocide), Five counts of crimes against humanity (Article 5 of the Statute – persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds extermination; murder; deportation; inhumane acts), One count of violations of the laws or customs of war (Article 3 of the Statute – murder),
On 2 October 2002, co-accused Biljana Plavsic pleaded guilty to one count of persecutions on political, racial and religious grounds, a crime against humanity. Following this, on 25 November 2002, the Trial Chamber ordered that the trial of Momcilo Krajisnik be severed from the sentencing proceedings for Biljana Plavsic. On 27 February 2003, Biljana Plavsic was sentenced to 11
years’ imprisonment.
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