The first-ever trial in Serbia for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, Europe's worst atrocity since World War II, was adjourned on Tuesday until February over legal proceedings.
The step was taken following requests from defence lawyers -- eight Serbian men are accused of involvement in the mass execution of Muslim men and boys -- to replace the judges and provide identities of protected witnesses.
While the court rejected a move to change the three-member panel of judges, it ordered that the prosecution share the list of protected witnesses by December 28.
The trial will re-open on February 6, presiding judge Mirjana Ilic said, warning the defence that the court would "prevent further delay".
The eight suspects are accused of having taken part in the mass killing of several hundred civilians in a single day in a warehouse in the town of Kravica, near the eastern enclave of Srebrenica.
The Srebrenica massacre involved the deaths of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in July 1995, a few months before the end of the bloody Bosnian war.
If found guilty, the defendants face up to 20 years in jail.
Bosnian Serb wartime military commander, general Ratko Mladic, awaits judgment at the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, concerning atrocities committed during the war, including for Srebrenica.
Two international courts have ruled that Srebrenica constituted genocide, although Serbia has persistently rejected the definition.
Bosnia's 1992-1995 inter-ethnic conflicts claimed around 100,000 lives and left 2.2 million people displaced.
The first-ever trial in Serbia for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, Europe’s worst atrocity since World War II, was adjourned on Tuesday until February over legal proceedings.
The step was taken following requests from defence lawyers — eight Serbian men are accused of involvement in the mass execution of Muslim men and boys — to replace the judges and provide identities of protected witnesses.
While the court rejected a move to change the three-member panel of judges, it ordered that the prosecution share the list of protected witnesses by December 28.
The trial will re-open on February 6, presiding judge Mirjana Ilic said, warning the defence that the court would “prevent further delay”.
The eight suspects are accused of having taken part in the mass killing of several hundred civilians in a single day in a warehouse in the town of Kravica, near the eastern enclave of Srebrenica.
The Srebrenica massacre involved the deaths of 8,000 Muslim men and boys in July 1995, a few months before the end of the bloody Bosnian war.
If found guilty, the defendants face up to 20 years in jail.
Bosnian Serb wartime military commander, general Ratko Mladic, awaits judgment at the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, concerning atrocities committed during the war, including for Srebrenica.
Two international courts have ruled that Srebrenica constituted genocide, although Serbia has persistently rejected the definition.
Bosnia’s 1992-1995 inter-ethnic conflicts claimed around 100,000 lives and left 2.2 million people displaced.
