Updated

Two former allies of late Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic have pleaded not guilty at the arraignment for their retrial on charges of setting up and arming notorious Serb paramilitary gangs that committed atrocities in Bosnia and Croatia during the 1990s Balkan wars.

Jovica Stanisic and Franko Simatovic were back in court Friday at the headquarters of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia three days after their 2013 acquittals on the same charges were quashed by appeals judges who then ordered the retrial.

Both men have asked to be released from the U.N. court's custody and sent home to Serbia to await the start of the retrial.