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DATE=4/7/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=BOSNIA WAR CRIMES (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261044
BYLINE=LAUREN COMITEAU
DATELINE=THE HAGUE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO:  In his first appearance before the 
Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal, former Bosnian Serb 
political leader Momcilo Krajisnik pleaded not 
guilty to all the charges against him. 
Prosecutors are holding him responsible as an 
architect of the slaughter and ethnic cleansing 
of non-Serbs during the early years of the 
Bosnian conflict.  Lauren Comiteau reports from 
The Hague.
TEXT:  After a dramatic week that began with the 
arrest of Momcilo Krajisnik, Friday's court 
proceedings were no-nonsense and quick. It took 
little over 30 minutes for Mr. Krajisnik to plead 
not guilty to all nine counts against him. 
Prosecutors say the Bosnian Serb leader was 
responsible for the murder and deportation of 
thousands of non-Serbs from Bosnia in 1991 and 
1992.
Mr. Krajisnik asked to make a statement on his 
own behalf, a request Judge Richard May denied. 
Judge May said he could do that when his trial 
begins. The only words he wanted to hear from the 
defendant this morning were guilty or not guilty. 
            /// MAY ACT ///
      Count One...genocide...how do you plead?
      Krajisnik: Nisam Kriv. 
            /// END ACT ///
Momcilo Krajisnik pleaded not guilty to the other 
charges as well. They include everything in this 
Tribunal's statute, from persecution and 
extermination to deportation.
Defense lawyer Igor Pantelic told reporters that 
as former president of the Bosnian Serb assembly, 
his client was not part of the chain of command.
            /// PANTELIC ACT ///
      It's absolutely unfounded, vague, 
      fabricated. It's politically motivated. Not 
      by accident that this indictment was served 
      prior to these days prior to local 
      elections.
            /// END ACT ///
Municipal elections will be held Saturday 
throughout Bosnia.
Mr. Pantelic says his client is in good mental 
and physical shape, and that the trial will be a 
very interesting one.  No date has been set yet, 
but prosecutors want Momcilo Krajisnik to be 
tried with Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan 
Karadzic - whom they also want NATO-troops to 
arrest. (Signed)
NEB/LC/GE/KL 
07-Apr-2000 07:58 AM EDT (07-Apr-2000 1158 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.