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WAR CRIMES

War crimes suspect remanded in custody

A Bosnian-born Swede was remanded in custody by a Stockholm court on Friday, suspected of committing war crimes against Serbs in 1992 during the Bosnian war.

His lawyer Ola Salomonsson told news agency AFP that the 43-year-old-man is to stay in custody for one month so far. “I’ve yet to decide whether we’ll appeal (the custody order) or not,” he added.

The man, whose name has not been released, was arrested in northern Sweden on Tuesday.

He is suspected of war crimes, murder, kidnapping and being an accessory to kidnapping between May and August 1992 when he was a prison guard at a detention camp for Bosnian Serb civilians, the Swedish Prosecution authority said in a statement Tuesday.

Salomonsson said his client “denied all the crimes that the prosecutor stated.”

The prosecution authority said the suspect’s arrest was the result of a “lengthy” investigation during which 70 people were questioned and for which “numerous countries,” as well as the UN war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, cooperated with Sweden in the investigation.

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SERBIA

Why has Serbia pledged €1 million for Notre-Dame restoration?

Serbia on Monday said it will donate one million euros to help restore Notre-Dame Cathedral, after pro-government tabloids said the fire was "God's punishment" to France.

Why has Serbia pledged €1 million for Notre-Dame restoration?
French President Emmanuel Macron (R) and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. Photo: AFP

The donation, equivalent to $1.1 million, “confirms our century-old friendship with the French people”, the Serbian government said in a statement.

Belgrade hopes “this symbol of French civilisation and the world will be rebuilt as quickly as possible.”

The gift comes after two tabloids, Alo and Informer, said the blaze was divine retribution after Kosovo's flag was displayed inside the cathedral during World War I centennial commemorations in Paris last year.

Serbia does not recognise the independence of Kosovo, a former southern province that broke away in a 1998-99 war.

The tabloid articles, entitled “God's punishment caught them”, were later removed, while Serbia's President Aleksandar Vucic assured that “all citizens of Serbia are sad” about the fire.

The display of Kosovo's flag inside the church, alongside those of other foreign guests at the ceremony last November, was tweeted by Serbia's ambassador to Paris but never confirmed by the cathedral or French authorities.

It was met with outrage in Belgrade, which was already angry after Kosovo's president was given a more prominent position than Serbia's at one of the centenary's events.

Hundreds of millions of euros have poured in from around the globe to help rebuild the cathedral since it went up in flames last Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron has set a five-year deadline to rebuild the cathedral, which took around 200 years to erect.

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