Vice-president of the Bosnian Serb opposition Party of Democratic Progress (PDP) and current Bosnian Foreign Minister, Igor Crnadak, said he hoped the trial of former Bosnian Army commander Atif Dudakovic and his co-defendants will be fair and free of pressure on witnesses.

Bosnian authorities arrested Dudakovic and 12 other members of his Fifth Corps on Friday. They stand accused of war crimes, committed between 1994 and 1995, and related to the alleged killing of hundreds of captured Bosnian Serb soldiers from the area of Western Krajina and Bosniak civilians who supported the Autonomous Province of West Bosnia during 1994 – a structure that was run by Bosniaks who rebelled against the Sarajevo government.

Crnadak said it was important for the truth about these crimes to come out.

The head of the Serb Democratic Party (SDS), Vukota Govedarica, also said today in Banja Luka that he expects the judicial institutions to show responsibility, professionalism and expertise while processing the former commander.

“Dudakovic and his commanders were not arrested by accident,” Govedarica said. “If the prosecution is driven by expertise and professionalism, as the State Investigation and protection Agency (SIPA) is, and the prosecutor were, I believe the court will have to order them to stay in custody.”

He said he hopes there will be no political pressure on the court.