THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) -- The top Bosnian Serb war crimes suspect in U.N. custody -- a general accused of overseeing the 1995 massacre of thousands of Muslims -- Monday denied genocide charges.
At his arraignment before the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal, Gen. Radislav Krstic also pleaded not guilty to crimes against humanity and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions."I plead not guilty," Krstic, 50, said calmly and clearly as each charge was read.
Krstic, arrested last week by U.S. members of the NATO peacekeeping force in Bosnia, is the most senior Serb military officer to be tried for atrocities during the Bosnian war.
A trial date was not immediately set for Krstic, who is being held in the U.N. court's high-security cell block outside The Hague. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Krstic was allowed to remain seated as he entered his pleas. His lawyer, Nenad Petrusic, told presiding Judge Claude Jorda of France that Krstic was suffering from serious injuries that made it difficult for him to stand. Krstic reportedly lost part of his right leg after stepping on a mine in 1994.
The indictment alleges offenses that followed the Serb takeover of the U.N. "safe haven" of Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia in July 1995.