According to a statement the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal issued on its web page on Tuesday, "today, 1 November 2005, the Rahim Ademi and Mirko Norac case was officially transferred to the Republic of Croatia by the ICTY. This is the first case in which persons already indicted by the Tribunal have been referred to Croatia. It is the only case, out of 10, that the Tribunal"s Prosecution has requested be transferred to Croatia."
The ICTY Prosecution moved for the referral of the case in September last year. The discussion on the matter was held in February 2005 and the the Referral Bench, comprised of three judges, decided to give a go-ahead for the referral on 14 September.
In its findings, the Referral Bench found that all requirements according to the rule regulating the transfer of ICTY cases, had been satisfied, including for the protection of witnesses, a fair trial for the accused, and the assurance that the death penalty would not be imposed. The Tribunal Prosecution was ordered to hand over all material supporting the indictment and other appropriate evidentiary material to the Prosecutor of the Republic of Croatia no later than 30 days after the decision.
Ademi and Norac are charged with two counts of crimes against humanity and three counts of violations of the laws or customs of war for crimes allegedly committed against the ethnic Serb population during the the so-called Medak Pocket operation from 9 September to on or about 17 September 1993.
"The Medak Pocket was situated within the self-proclaimed "Republika Srpska Krajina" and prior to the attack, approximately 400 Serb civilians inhabited the area. The indictment states that as a result of the Croatian military operation, '…the Medak Pocket became uninhabitable. The villages of the Pocket were completely destroyed, thereby depriving the Serbian civilian population of their homes and livelihood'," read the statement on the ICTY web site.
The indictment alleges "cruel and inhumane treatment of Serb civilians and captured and/or wounded soldiers from the Medak Pocket."
"At the time of the operation, Rahim Ademi served in the Croatian Ministry of Interior as Acting Commander of the Gospic Military District, a position he held throughout the operation. Mirko Norac also served in the Ministry of Interior as Commander of the 9th Motorized Guards Brigade and during the operation he was appointed Commander of Sector 1, a combat group formed for the purposes of conducting the operation."
Both Ademi and Norac are charged on the basis of their individual criminal responsibility and their criminal responsibility as a superior for the acts of their subordinates.
In line with the exit strategy of the tribunal, the ICTY has so far referred three cases to Bosnia-Herzegovina and one case to Croatia.