The first trial at the special Serbian war crimes court is due to re-open on 27 April amid calls for its abolition and protests over Serbia's lack of cooperation. The trial of six suspected war criminals is a test case for Belgrade, who hopes to be able to transfer more cases from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTR) to its own courts. The six Serbs, who all pleaded not guilty, face charges of taking part in the massacre of 192 civilians and soldiers in Ovcara, Croatia, at the end of 1991. The trial opened on 9 March and was adjourned two days later. The special court was set up in 2003 to allow Serbian courts to try presumed war criminals.

However, Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica's government, which is highly critical of the ICTY, is intent on blocking cooperation between Serbia and the international community. On 29 March, Zoran Stojkovic, the Serbian Justice Minister, called for the special court to be abolished. Two days after Stojkovic's statement, the United States declared it was suspending a 100m USD aid package to Serbia for its failure to hand over the former Bosnian Serb political leader Radovan Karadzic, and ex-soldier Ratko Mladic, to the ICTY. Both suspects have been on the run for the past 9 years. The US decision was also a protest against a law adopted on 30 March granting state aid to Serb war crimes suspects. More sanctions are in store from the international community. On 16 April, its representative in Bosnia Paddy Ashdown dismissed the head of the Republika Srpska army for obstructing investigations into the Srebrenica massacre. The British diplomat also summarily sacked Dejan Miletic, the Bosnian Serb in charge of relations with the ICTY. General Savic and Miletic «are directly responsible for the obstruction of the investigating commission» Paddy Ashdown told AFP.