(19 Mar 1996) Natural Sound
A Bosnian Serb military court is continuing Tuesday its trial of a Bosnian Croat accused of murdering 27 Serbs.
Ivan Stjepanovic has already pleaded guilty to the murders - including civilians - and faces the death penalty if convicted.
In a confession presented to the court, 26-year-old Stjepanovic listed the names of his 27 Serbian victims and admitted looting their homes.
He admitted taking part in a number of commando raids conducted from the northern Bosnian Croat town of Orasje against bordering Serb villages during 1992 until late 1995.
17 witnesses said Stjepanovic threw grenades into victim's homes, decapitated those who died in the explosions, slit the throats of survivors and gunned down those who tried to escape.
However, he says he acted out of greed, not ethnic hatred.
Stjepanovic was represented by an attorney appointed by the court, which is part of the part of the Serbs' self-styled state in Bosnia.
No international monitors were present.
He was arrested last November after accidentally crossing into Serb-controlled territory.
Regardless of the outcome - and a verdict is due Tuesday - it is expected Stjepanovic will be handed over to the International war crimes tribunal in the Hague.
So far, the Bosnian Serbs have disregarded the tribunal's authority.
The prime suspects indicted by the international war crimes tribunal are Bosnian Serb political and military leaders Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic.
They have denied the accusations against them and dodged the international peace force that is authorized to arrest them.
But their attitude may be softening after a top Hague official recently met with their self- appointed Prime Minister, Rajko Kasagic.
The Serbs may now be ready to provide witnesses for the Hague trials against accused Muslim and Croat war criminals while at the same time extraditing Muslims and Croats suspected of committing crimes against Serbs.
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