TRIAL OF SERBIAN WAR CRIMINALS GOJKO KLICKOVIC,JOVAN OSTOJIC AND MLADEN DRLJACA BEGINS BEFORE BOSNIAN STATE COURT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (May 9,2008) - At the beginning of the trial of Serbian war criminals Gojko Klickovic, Jovan Ostojic and Mladen Drljaca the Bosnian State Prosecutor said yesterday that the war crimes committed against Bosnian civilians in the Bosanska Krupa area during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia were done in a planned way, with the indictees' support.

The indictments against Serbian war criminals Klickovic, Ostojic and Drljaca were merged, as per a motion filed by the Bosnian State Prosecutor, in April 2008. After Prosecutor Philip Alcock had read the three indictments, Serbian war criminal Gojko Klickovic said he did not understand his indictment.

"Should you include genocide and apartheid in it, the indictment would become an indictment against all Serbians. I do not think that its authors understand it either. Nobody can understand this farce," said Serbian war criminal Gojko Klickovic, while Serbian war criminals Jovan Ostojic and Mladen Drljaca confirmed they understood the indictment.

The Bosnian State Prosecutor charges these Serbian war criminals with having participated in the persecution, murder and torture of Bosnian civilians on the territory of this municipality,during the 1992-1995 Serbian aggression against Bosnia.

In the Prosecution's introductory arguments, Alcock spoke about the situation in Bosanska Krupa in the course of 1991 and 1992, where "the violence was obvious, frequent and clear to the three indictees."

"Imagine the amazing arrogance of the plans to join the municipalities and to clear them of all their residents. The municipality of Bosanska Krupa was indeed cleared of all Bosnians, step by step, going from one stage to another – by conducting murders, detentions and torture," said Alcock, adding that the Bosnian civilians, who were deported from Bosanska Krupa, were helpless and they did not represent any kind of a threat.

The Prosecutor also said that the indictees must have been aware of "the stage," where all these abuses happened in the municipality.

"How could they not know about the murders in the prisons, if there were more people who entered those prisons than the ones who left them. How could you not hear the screams of non-swimmers, who were forced, by the guards, to jump into the water.

The SDS (a political party of the Serbians living in Bosnia) conducted all events, and Gojko Klickovic was in the centre of the events. At the same time, he was just a string puppet, who executed orders received from top officials," said Alcock.

Although he initially said that he would not present his introductory arguments, Klickovic's Defence attorney Dusan Tomic addressed the Court by saying that the fewest crimes were committed in Bosanska Krupa and that the Serbians became "the biggest losers of the tragedy that happened there." He also informed the Bosnian State Court that Serbian war criminal Gojko Klickovic decided to participate in his defence.

"We agreed that, from now on, Gojko Klickovic must be present in this courtroom in order to reveal the great truth and to avoid being found guilty of all the happenings in Bosanska Krupa. Klickovic is just a minor consequence of a great cause. Radovan Karadzic, a great evil magician, is still at large. Had this not been the case, this indictment would have never been filed. Now, Klickovic is going to be tried for the crimes committed by that man," Tomic said.

Serbian war criminal Gojko Klickovic addressed the Bosnian State Court, by saying that he was a puppet of his people, while the Prosecutor was "a puppet of some dirty games."

The Defence of Serbian war criminal Jovan Ostojic considers that the indictee was just "collateral damage," because they needed "someone who was in the military structure". He also said that he hoped the Bosnian State Prosecutor would give up on the indictment in the course of the process.

The examination of the first two Prosecution witnesses is planned for May 13.
.