June 1, 1996
Croat Is First to Be Convicted by Balkan War Crimes Panel
THE HAGUE, May 31 (AP) -- An ethnic Croat who fought for the Bosnian Serb army pleaded guilty today to crimes against humanity for his part in the massacre of thousands of Muslim men at a United Nations-designated "safe area" in Bosnia last July.
The soldier, Drazen Erdemovic, is the first person convicted by the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal since it was set up in 1993. He will be sentenced in July.
Mr. Erdemovic, a rank-and-file soldier who has acknowledged his guilt from the start, was convicted for his part in the mass execution of thousands of Muslims in the enclave of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia last July.
With short dark hair and a pimply complexion, Mr. Erdemovic, 24, looked no more than a teen-ager as he stood before the court and described how his victims were killed in groups of 10, shot in the back by himself and fellow soldiers in the Bosnian Serb army.
He broke down in tears as he said that his Bosnian Serb commanders had given him no choice but to kill or be killed himself.
"Your honor, I had to do this," he told the presiding judge, Claude Jorda of France.
"If I had refused, I would have been killed together with the victims," he said. "When I refused, they told me, 'If you are sorry for them, line up with them and we will kill you too.'Ý"
The judge told the sobbing man, "Get a hold of yourself."
The tribunal accepted his plea and scheduled his sentencing hearing for July 8 and 9. Mr. Erdemovic is expected to ask for a light sentence because he has cooperated with prosecutors.
The United Nations court has no death penalty, and Mr. Erdemovic faces at most a life sentence for his part in the massacre.
The tribunal's spokesman, Christian Chartier, confirmed before the hearing that Mr. Erdemovic gave investigators useful evidence in their case against the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his army commander, Gen. Ratko Mladic.
The two Bosnian Serb leaders were indicted last November on charges of directing the killing of more than 6,000 Muslim men at Srebrenica.
Mr. Erdemovic admitted to killing about 70 Muslim men at a collective farm near Srebrenica.
On Thursday tribunal investigators used metal detectors to search for bullet casings in a cornfield in the village of Pilica, where Mr. Erdemovic said he shot his victims.
His defense lawyer, Jovan Babic, asked the tribunal to find a Bosnian Muslim, whom Mr. Erdemovic says he had saved, to serve as a character witness on Mr. Erdemovic's behalf. The reported rescue apparently took place before the Srebrenica massacre.
Mr. Erdemovic was originally sent to the tribunal on March 30 by Serbia to provide evidence against Dr. Karadzic and General Mladic. He was indicted by the tribunal earlier this week.
The United Nations court has indicted 58 suspects: 46 Serbs, 9 Croats and 3 Muslims. Only six of these suspects are in custody. from last line of copy text to the end, replace with:
