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| |  | | Sredoje Lukic | | | context : | Former Yugoslavia  | | judgement place : | ICTY (Yugoslavia) | | status : | On trial | | particulars : | Trial began on 9th July 2008 before the ICTY | | position : | Police agent in Višegrad in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a member of a paramilitary group of Bosnian Serbs called the |
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| | | | After having fled to Russia, Lukić was handed over voluntarily to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on 16th September 2005.
The initial indictment was issued by the Prosecutor of the ICTY on 21st October 1998, and confirmed on 26th October. It was initially sealed and made public on 30th October 2000. Sredoje Lukić was indicted along with two others: his cousin Milan Lukić, and Mitar Vasiljević (see “related cases”).
Following the arrest of Mitar Vasiljević in January 2000, the indictment was amended on 12th July 2001 to focus on the Lukić cousins. The trial of Mitar Vasiljević took place between 2000 and 2002. The indictment against the Lukic cousins was further amended on 1st February 2006.
Under the amended indictment, Sredoje Lukić is accused on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility of:
-- Eight counts of crimes against humanity (Article 3 of the Statute of the ICTY), for acts of persecution, extermination, murder and inhumane acts
-- Five counts of violations of laws and customs of war (Article 5 of the Statute), for acts of murder and the infliction of cruel and inhuman treatment.
The crimes are all alleged to have been committed between 7th June 1992 and 10th October 1994, in the town of Višegrad and its surrounding areas. They were all directed against civilian non-Serbs.
Lukić appeared at a preliminary hearing before the ICTY on 20th September 2005. He pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.
On 1st February 2005, the Referral Bench of the ICTY, asked the Prosecutor to refer the case to the national courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Referral Bench consists of a panel of three judges responsible for deciding whether a case should be tried by the ICTY or referred to a national court, in accordance with Rule 11bis of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the ICTY. The panel decided on 5th April 2007, to refer the case to the courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Sredoje Lukić accepted this decision, but his co-accused, Milan Lukić, appealed. On 11th July 2007, the ICTY Appeals Chamber overturned the referral decision, ruling that the importance of the crimes committed justified having the ICTY hear the case. In view of the close proximity between the charges against Milan Lukić and Sredoje Lukić, to spare the victims the trauma of having to testify twice, and to be economical in terms of justice, the panel decided on 20th July 2007 for the two cases to remain joined, and to be tried by the ICTY.
On 12th June 2008, one months before the start of the trial, the Office of the Prosecutor requested to amend the indictment for a third time in order to add new charges involving rape and sexual abuse, as well as torture and slavery committed in detention centres in the region of Višegrad.
One day before the trial, the Trial Chamber rejected the Prosecutor's request to add rape and sexual slavery to the indictment against the two accused. According to the judges, such an amendment would endanger the rights of defendants to have sufficient time to prepare their defence.
The trial before the ICTY began on 9th July 2008. | |    | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | nationality : | | | Serbia and montenegro | | | date of birth : | | | 05.04.1961 | | | last time seen : | | | The Hague, Netherlands | | | period of charges : | | | 07.06.1992 - 10.10.1994 | | | judgement period : | | | 09.07.2008 | | | charges : | | | Crimes against humanity
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 14.09.2008 |
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