Landmark Srebrenica trial resumes in Serbia

BELGRADE, Serbia – The landmark trial of eight former Bosnian Serb police officers charged with taking part in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre has resumed in Serbia following a suspension.

The trial was halted in July because charges in the case had been filed when Serbia was without a chief war crimes prosecutor. The new prosecutor, Snezana Stanojkovic, then filed a request to resume the proceedings.

The trial is seen as a test of Serbia’s pledge to punish war criminals as it formally seeks European Union membership — and an important step in Balkan reconciliation more than two decades after the Bosnian war.

The proceedings resumed Tuesday with the reading of the indictment.

Some 8,000 Muslims were killed by Bosnian Serb troops in Srebrenica — Europe’s worst atrocity since World War II.