Serbia's last major war crimes suspect refused to enter a plea on charges over the 1991-1995 Croatian war when he made his first appearance at the UN's Yugoslavia tribunal today.
Goran Hadzic is charged with 14 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. These include the extermination, murder and willful killing of hundreds of Croat and other non-Serb civilians - in particular, 264 hospital patients who were killed in Vukovar in 1991.
"Mr Hadzic is not going to enter a plea today. He is going to avail himself of the rights granted to him," Hadzic's counsel Vladimir Petrovic told the court.
Judge O-Gon Kwon said that a second arraignment hearing would be scheduled within 30 days as Hadzic had not entered a plea.
The arrest of Hadzic (52) and his transfer to The Hague last week was a symbolic moment for both Serbia and the Balkans region, ending an 18-year manhunt to detain all 161 suspects indicted by the Yugoslavia war crimes court.
The European Union has insisted that Serbia arrest all wanted war criminals before it grants candidate status for membership. It is due to issue a progress report in October.
Hadzic was on the run for seven years, outlasting the better known indicted war criminal from the 1990s breakup of Yugoslavia, Bosnian Serb commander Ratko Mladic.
Serbian security officials arrested Hadzic about 65km north of Belgrade last week. He was allowed a visit from his family before his transfer to The Hague on Friday.
Few Serbs lamented Hadzic's departure, in contrast to the public reaction to the arrest of Mladic in May and of Bosnian Serb wartime political chief Radovan Karadzic three years ago.
Reuters