Ten wartime civil, military and police officials of Bosnia and Herzegovina, charged with war crimes against former Yugoslav (JNA) soldiers in 1992, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to all charges of the indictment before the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The defendants, among whom are the former member of the BiH Presidency Ejup Ganic, former ministers of the interior Jusuf Pusina and Bakir Alispahic, and retired general Fikret Muslimovic, are charged with being responsible for the murder of eight and the wounding of 24 soldiers of the former Yugoslav army, who were retreating from Sarajevo in May 1992.

The case is connected with the dramatic events at the beginning of the war, when the then president of the BiH Presidency, Alija Iztebegovic, was captured at the Sarajevo airport after returning from the peace negotiations held in Lisbon.

Members of the JNA conditioned his release on the evacuation of their commander, General Milutin Kukanjac, and his associates from the army headquarters in Sarajevo, which were under siege.

As the column of JNA soldiers including Kukanjac retreated through Sarajevo with the mediation of the UN, a conflict erupted between BiH police and JNA-backed territorial defence units, in which several high-ranking JNA military officers were killed.

Defence attorney Asim Crnalic told reporters after the plea hearing that this was a politically motivated indictment that all the accused resolutely reject.

“He who is attacked has the right to defend himself,” said Crnalic.

The Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina will subsequently decide on the date of the main trial.