The trial of the Bosnian Serb wartime military leader, General Ratko Mladic, indicted for genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, began before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague on Wednesday morning.
Mladic is charged with genocide for the slaughter of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys in the Srebrenica area of eastern Bosnia in July 1995, the persecution of Muslims and Croats throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina during the country's 1992-1995 war, the years-long siege of Sarajevo, and the taking of UN peacekeeping personnel as hostages.
Mladic was arrested in Serbia last year after 16 years in hiding. He refused to enter a plea at his initial appearance in court, so the judges entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.
Upon his arrival in the courtroom this morning, the 70-year old Serb general briefly applauded to the tribunal's trial chamber.
