Serbs cheer defendant as first local war crimes trial begins

In a step towards facing up to its bloodstained past, Serbia began its first ever war crimes trial on Tuesday with a soldier accused of killing two Kosovo Albanians.

The defendant, Ivan Nikolic, 30, smiled and flashed a three-fingered Serb salute as six policemen marched him in handcuffs into the courthouse.

He faces up to 40 years in jail if convicted of shooting dead two ethnic Albanian civilians during the 1999 Nato bombing.

Witnesses gave a sketchy picture of the events of 24 May, 1999, when three army trucks halted in northern Kosovo because of heavy bombing. Yugoslav soldiers took shelter nearby, automatic rifle fire was heard, and the victims were found dead.

Colleagues told the court that Mr Nikolic was a brave soldier. "There was no greater fighter," said Slobodan Jokovic, 37, one of three reservists to give evidence. An officer also spoke.

Supporters outside said they were furious the state had, in their view, rounded on those who fought for their country. "My friends came back driven half mad by the suffering of war, only to face war crimes charges," one young woman said, fighting back tears.

Yugoslavia has come under Western pressure to bring war criminals to justice. Until now that has meant the handover of war crimes suspects such as former President Slobodan Milosevic for trial at a UN tribunal in The Hague. The local trial of lesser offenders is the next step.

Mr Nikolic's attorney, Sasa Cupic, branded the case as a bid to appease the international community. "The new indictment again raises concerns about politics interfering with the judiciary." Cupic argued that forensic evidence showed that more than one person fired at the Albanians, and claimed there were so many irregularities that any Western court would throw the case out.

The army arrested Mr Nikolic after the incident, but handed him over to the civil authorities because he was a reservist, not a full soldier. He was charged with the murders in May 1999, but the case was changed to a war crime in April 2002.

The trial was adjourned until 4 July, when it will hear two more witnesses and closing statements.