Commandant pleads not guilty

Zagreb - The commandant of the Jasenovac death camp pleaded not guilty to war crimes yesterday as independent Croatia's first…

Zagreb - The commandant of the Jasenovac death camp pleaded not guilty to war crimes yesterday as independent Croatia's first trial of a prominent figure under the pro-Nazi Ustasha regime got under way.

Mr Dinko Sakic (77) faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of crimes against humanity, murder, torture and the ill-treatment of prisoners. "I do not feel responsible for absolutely any of the acts of which I am accused," he said.

At the opening of the trial, a Croatian medical commission declared the septuagenarian fit to follow proceedings.

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