Serb general pleads not guilty

Djordjevic stands accused of alleged atrocities against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

Vlastimir Djordjevic, former Serbia assistant interior minister
Djordjevic has pleaded not guilty to alleged atrocities against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo [AP]
The authorities in Montenegro say he was arrested there, but Djordjevic had said he was arrested in Belgrade and transferred illegally to Montenegro.
 
He withdrew this claim on Monday, saying he had provided “erroneous information about where [he] was” during his arrest and had been living in Montenegro since 2003.
 
He faces charges relating back to 1999 for alleged involvement in the forcible deportation of 800,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians, the killing of more than 700 named Kosovo Albanians and sexual assaults by Serbian and Yugoslav troops under his command.
 
Djordjevic, a supporter of Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president who died while on trial before the tribunal, served as deputy interior minister and police commander during the Kosovo conflict.
 
Breakaway province
 
Meanwhile, the future of the breakaway Kosovo province continues to be debated.
 
The UN Security Council was expected to begin consultations on Monday, amid Russia’s threat to veto any resolution that does not meet Belgrade’s approval.
 
Days earlier, the US and Europe circulated their compromise draft recolution.
 
The draft called for more talks over a 120-day period between Belgrade and Albanian separatists to determine Kosovo’s future status, but drops an earlier proposal of an automatic move to supervised independence if the parties fail to find common ground at the end of that period.
Source: News Agencies