Bosnian Serb commander Mr Dragan Obrenovic, accused of executing thousands of Muslims during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, pleaded not guilty today to genocide and other war crimes charges.
UN prosecutors say the former major (38), seized by NATO-led Stabilisation Force troops near Zvornik on Sunday, played a crucial role in the killings - considered the worst atrocity in Europe since World War Two.
In a brief initial appearance at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia today, Mr Obrenovic waived his right to have the indictment read in full.
Judge Hunt of Australia simply listed the five counts of complicity in genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war. To each, Mr Obrenovic answered "your honour, not guilty".
Prosecutors say Mr Obrenovic and his superior, General Radislav Krstic, whose trial in The Hague is nearing its end, carried out the purge with zeal under the guidance of Bosnian Serb wartime leader Mr Radovan Karadzic and his military commander Mr Ratko Mladic.
Dragan Obrenovic participated in a criminal plan and enterprise, the common purpose of which was to detain, capture and summarily execute by firing squad and bury over 5,000 Muslim men and boys from the Srebrenica enclave, the indictment says.
Bosnian Serb forces are alleged to have killed up to 8,000 Muslims, including some in battle, after their troops overran the enclave in July 1995.
The indictment details the huge task that Bosnian Serb troops carried out - rounding up thousands of Muslim men and boys, executing them and dumping their bodies in mass graves.
Troops were later ordered to dig up the bodies from the initial mass graves and transfer them to other sites in a huge cover-up operation.
The biggest mass grave of Srebrenica victims was found around 35 miles (50 kilometres) away - near Zvornik by the Yugoslav border.
Mr Obrenovic, acting in his capacity as Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander and Acting Commander, assisted in the planning, controlling, monitoring, organising and carrying out of the described activities, the indictment says.
Judge Hunt said Obrenovic's trial should begin early next year.