Borovcanin Denied Provisional Release

Borovcanin wanted to return to Bijeljina, in the Republika Srpska, in the intervening period. He offered guarantees from the Bosnian Serb government and from Serbia and Montenegro in support of his promise to come back to The Hague for trial. And he also argued that he had surrendered voluntarily to the court last year.



The judges noted, however, that Borovcanin had originally made an agreement to surrender himself in September 2002. Having reneged on this pledge, he went into hiding until last April, when he was transferred to The Hague during a drive by Belgrade to encourage indictees to give themselves up.



The judges went on to say that they were also not even convinced that his eventual arrival in The Hague had been genuinely voluntary. No satisfactory explanation had been given, they said, as to why he suddenly had a change of heart after two and a half years in hiding.



They were also not swung by the guarantees offered by Belgrade and Banja Luka.



In conclusion, the judges said they were simply not satisfied that Borovcanin would return to the Hague if granted provisional release.



In addition, they noted that his trial, along with seven others accused of involvement in the executions of thousands of prisoners from Srebrenica, could start as early as July this year. Given the circumstances, they said, it would be helpful to have him readily available.