Verdict Expected Thursday Srebrenica Case

Lauren Comiteau

The Hague

1 Aug 2001 23:12 UTC

Judges at the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal will hand down their 1)verdict Thursday against Bosnian Serb General Radislav Krstic. The most senior Bosnian Serb to stand trial, General Krstic is 2)accused of directing the worst crime of the Bosnian war - the 1995 slaughter of thousands of Muslim men and boys after the fall of the U.N.-declared safe haven, Srebrenica.

The 15 month long trial of General Radislav Krstic is widely considered the most important to come before the 3)tribunal so far. The general is charged with 4)genocide for his 5)alleged role in Europe's worst 6)massacres since World War II.

Prosecutors say that after Bosnian Serbs 7)captured what was supposed to be the U.N. safe area of Srebrenica, in July 1995, they systematically 8)executed at least 7,500 Muslim men and boys. It is alleged that as leader of the Drina Corps, General Krstic, a 53-year-old career soldier, commanded the troops that committed the crimes.

9)Prosecutors have asked the tribunal to sentence General Krstic to 10)consecutive life sentences for each of the eight counts against him, 11)virtually assuring that the general would spend the rest of his life behind bars. But defense lawyers, who have argued that General Krstic was not in command at the time and that it was really Bosnian Serb military leader Ratko Mladic who was in charge, have asked for 12)acquittals on all counts. They do not deny the crimes took place - they just insist the general was not involved.

The general's lawyers also say that what happened at Srebrenica was not genocide. In order to prove genocide, prosecutors have to convince the tribunal, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the crimes were committed with the intention of wiping out, in part or in whole, Srebrenica's Muslim community. If prosecutors are successful, it will be the first genocide conviction of the Bosnian war.

For journalist Julija Bogoeva, who has been covering the tribunal for the independent Yugoslav news agency Beta, that is significant in order to set the historical record straight. "It is important," he said, "because when the record is set in this way, it will be more difficult for all those forces which always exist, the revisionist forces, those that will always be attempting to rewrite history, to deny that that's what happened."

What happened, say prosecutors, was the 13)destruction of Srebrenica's Muslim community over the course of five days in the summer of 1995. They say General Krstic had the benefit of a trial, something his 14)victims did not. Now they are hoping that six years after the crimes, they can at least offer the survivors a sense of justice.

(1)      verdict[5v:dIkt]n.[律](陪审团的)裁决, 判决, 判断

(2)      accuse[E5kju:z]vt.控告, 谴责, 非难

(3)      tribunal[traI5bju:n(E)l]n.法官席, 审判员席, (特等)法庭

(4)      genocide[5dVenEsaId]n.有计划的灭种和屠杀

(5)      alleged[E`ledVd]adj.声称的, 所谓的

(6)      massacre[5mAsEkE(r)]n.残杀, 大屠杀v.残杀, 集体屠杀

(7)      capture[5kAptFE(r)]n.捕获, 战利品vt.俘获, 捕获, 夺取

(8)      execute[5eksIkju:t]vt.执行, 实行, 完成, 处死, 制成

(9)      prosecutor[5prRsIkju:tE(r)]n.检举人

(10)      consecutive[kEn5sekjJtIv]adj.连续的, 联贯的

(11)      virtually[5v:tjJElI]adv.事实上, 实质上

(12)      acquittal[E5kwIt(E)l]n.宣判无罪

(13)      destruction[dI5strQkF(E)n]n.破坏, 毁灭

(14)      victim[5vIktIm]n.受害人, 牺牲者, 牺牲品