Bosnian Serb involved in cliff-edge massacre pleads guilty at UN tribunal

The United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) today accepted a guilty plea by a former Bosnian Serb for his involvement in the in 1992 massacre of more than 200 non-Serb men at the edge of a cliff.

The Tribunal’s decision reflects the plea agreement reached by Darko Mrdja and the Office of the Prosecutor in which the former police officer would admit his guilt to one count of murder as a violation of the laws or customs of war and to another count of inhumane acts as a crime against humanity. In exchange, the Prosecutor would withdraw one count of extermination as a crime against humanity.

The motion was filed confidentially five days before the opening of the trial, which was scheduled to begin on 29 July. Mr. Mrdja faces a sentence of between 15 and 20 years in prison, with the accused to be given credit for the time he has served in the custody of the ICTY.

Mr. Mrdja was alleged to have commanded a special police unit responsible for the execution of some 200 non-Serb men in Koricanske Stijene in August 1992. According to the indictment, men previously detained in a camp in Trnopolje and others from the village of Tukovi were driven by Serb special police to an isolated location and forced to kneel at the edge of a cliff. The Serb police then began firing at the men. Witnesses estimated that more than 200 were killed by the shots or by falling from the cliff, although the exact number of dead is still unknown. Twelve men are known to have survived.