Israeli-Serb Soldier Acquitted of Srebrenica Genocide Charges
A former Bosnian Serb soldier was acquitted Thursday of charges he helped kill hundreds of Muslims during the Srebrenica genocide, just about a week before commemorations of the massacre's 20th anniversary.
Aleksandar Cvetkovic was tried by a Bosnian court.
Handing down judgment Judge Darko Samardzic said the evidence and witness statements "cast serious doubt on the prosecution's accusations... and where there is a doubt the court must rule in favor of the accused."
Almost 8,000 Muslim men and boys were slaughtered and buried in mass graves in Srebenica in mid-July 1995, by Bosnian Serb troops commanded by Ratko Mladic.
The massacre -- which came towards the end of Bosnia's three-year civil war in which 100,000 people died -- was Europe's worst atrocity since World War II and has been labeled genocide by two international courts.
Bosnia is preparing to hold a commemorative ceremony at the Srebrenica memorial on July 11.
Prosecutors alleged Cvetkovic, 47, and other members of a notorious commando unit executed around 900 Muslims on a farm in Branjevo, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) north of Srebrenica on July 16, 1995.
Prosecutors used the testimony of a protected witness and another former member of the unit, Drazen Erdemovic, to build their case.
Erdemovic, who was convicted of war crimes and jailed in 1998, was the first Serb soldier convicted over Srebrenica.
Several other members of the unit convicted in 2013 of taking part in the Branjevo executions said that Cvetkovic drove them to the site of the killings, but that he himself did not take part in the shooting, the judge said.
Cvetkovic, an Israeli-Serb, was arrested in January 2011 in Israel and extradited to Bosania about two years later.
over 9 years
Mowaten - As usual you read things that are not written in the article. He was born in the former Yugoslavia being a citizen of there and then a Serbian citizen well before he left to live in Israel after he got married.
Why is there no single word from you for 4 years over the 1/4 million civilians in Syria who have been killed, Moslems, Christians, Druze, Yezidis etc. They are a lot more that the total number of civilians killed in the Yugoslav Civil War. But why should that bother you, all you are interested in is throwing dirt at Israel and Israelis and I am surprised at Naharnet that they allow people like you to operate under their banner.
over 9 years
there has been a thousand words from me about the israeli/saudi sponsored massacre of syrian, what the hell are you talking about?
over 9 years
SafawiMowaten - That is exactly the type of rubbish that you write that make people not take you seriously. The overwhelming majority of civilians in Syria were killed by the Assad regime that you support.
over 9 years
"Safawi"? You couldn't help the sectarian reference could you? That is exactly the type of rubbish that you write that make people not take you seriously.
As for the casualties in Syria, your claims in pure BS, based only on your takfiri friends' claims.
over 9 years
The SAA is defending its country and trying to rid it from terrorist. While the tens of thousands of foreign terrorists who share your sectarian hatred are there to kill anyone that doesn't share that filthy mindset, or who doesn't support them.
well of course, it's always legal for israelis to kill unarmed civilians, especially if they are muslim.