DEFENCE TO ASK HAGUE TRIBUNAL PRESIDENT FOR APPROPRIATE MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR BLASKIC

ZAGREB, Feb 5 (Hina) - The defence of Tihomir Blaskic will send an urgent request to the president of the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague for assistance in providing the former Bosnian Croat general with appropriate medical care, attorney Anto Nobilo said in a statement on Thursday.#L# Nobilo issued the statement after receiving an expert medical opinion from Dr Rajko Ostojic, deputy director of the Zagreb Clinic Hospital, and after consultations with him. Ostojic made the opinion on the basis of medical reports received from the Netherlands via Blaskic's defence. According to the statement, the doctors used by the Hague tribunal evidently failed to make a correct diagnosis and prescribe efficient treatment since Blaskic's condition is as grave as it was 14 months ago when the treatment began. In its request to the tribunal's president, the defence will insist that Blaskic undergo all the necessary tests either in the Netherlands or in Croatia, and will also offer the services of Dr Ostojic, who is ready to fly to The Hague immediately to examine the general. Nobilo said in the statement he would notify the Croatian government about the "inappropriate medical treatment" Blaskic had received, and urge it to take the necessary measures to secure appropriate medical care for a Croatian citizen serving a prison sentence abroad, as provided for by the Vienna Convention. Blaskic has been in custody at The Hague for nearly eight years. His condition started deteriorating 18 months ago, with symptoms including gastrointestinal bleeding, anemia and overall weakness. He was sentenced to 45 years in jail pending appeal on the basis of command responsibility for war crimes committed against the Muslim population in Central Bosnia during the 1990s war. (Hina) ha