Bosnia's Plavsic denies war crimes

THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Former Bosnian Serb president Biljana Plavsic pleaded not guilty to nine counts of genocide and crimes against humanity when she appeared before a UN tribunal in The Hague.

The 70-year-old former biology professor was charged with orchestrating the wartime execution and deportation of entire populations of non-Serbs from parts of Bosnia during the 1992-95 war.

In her first court appearance on Thursday, she pleaded not guilty as each of the nine counts, including genocide, complicity in genocide, extermination, murder, willful killing, persecutions and deportation, were read out by the judge.

Plavsic, known as the Iron Lady of the Balkans, was deputy to the top Bosnian Serb fugitive suspect, Radovan Karadzic, during the war in Bosnia.

AUDIO Plavsic is charged with genocide. 237K/24 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

The indictment says Plavsic served on the war presidency of the Bosnian Serb republic and from July 1991 to December 1992 planned or ordered the ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims and Croats.

The indictment details a huge catalogue of events in which non-Serbs were executed, tortured and detained in inhuman conditions as the brutal purge gathered pace.

Plavsic, the first woman publicly indicted by the tribunal and the second key figure from the former Bosnian Serb leadership to come to The Hague, said: "I have received the indictment yesterday. I understood it fully and I plead not guilty to all counts on the indictment."

Reuters contributed to this report.

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International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
Major War Criminals/Suspects
Governments on the WWW: Bosnia and Herzegovina

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