Bosnian former leader Ejup Ganic fights extradition on war crimes charge

Graphic images of the war in Bosnia were shown at a London court today as Ejup Ganic, its former president, began his battle against extradition to Serbia, where he is accused of war crimes in 1992. Video showing burned-out ambulances and the corpses of soldiers was played as Serbia sought to persuade City of Westminster magistrates court to hand over the engineering professor, detained at Heathrow in March after a degree ceremony at the University of Buckingham. It is alleged that Ganic, 64, ordered attacks on a medical convoy and a military hospital, as well as on a military convoy that saw the massacre of more than 40 soldiers as they retreated from the Bosnian Muslim area of Sarajevo in May 1992. Ganic denies the charges, saying he has been exonerated at two legal hearings, and that it would be impossible for him to receive a fair trial in Serbia. The charges centre on the so-called Dobrovoljacka Street attack after Bosnia had declared independence from the Serb-led former Yugoslavia. James Lewis QC, for the Serbian authorities, said Ganic was the "person in command and control" when the attacks happened. They began with a raid on 2 May 1992 on a non-military Yugoslavian officers' club in which catering staff were either tortured or shot. A medical convoy including ambulances sent to assist was "effectively ambushed" and came under fire from machine guns and missiles. A witness in a statement described unarmed soldiers being shot as they tried to surrender and their bodies left in the street for two days as a warning. The next day a military hospital was hit and a retreating military convoy attacked. Serbian authorities allege Ganic, acting president at the time, ordered the attacks. He is one of 19 people for whom arrest warrants were issued in Serbia in November, and is accused of conspiracy to murder in breach of the Geneva conventions. The hearing continues.