ZAGREB, March 29 (Hina) - The Appeals Chamber of the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal (ICTY) is preparing a verdict in the case of Bosnian Croat General Tihomir Blaskic but the five judges still need some time, the chamber's
chairman, Fausto Pocar, said at a status conference on Monday.
ZAGREB, March 29 (Hina) - The Appeals Chamber of the Hague-based UN war
crimes tribunal (ICTY) is preparing a verdict in the case of Bosnian
Croat General Tihomir Blaskic but the five judges still need some
time, the chamber's chairman, Fausto Pocar, said at a status
conference on Monday.#L#
Status conferences are held every 120 days so as to make it possible
for detainees to appear before judges at regular intervals and express
their possible objections to conditions in the detention centre or
their health problems.
At the start of this year, after his health had not improved for a
year, the defence of General Tihomir Blaskic asked that an independent
expert, namely Croatian gastroenterologist Rajko Ostojic, examine
their client.
At the latest status conference Blaskic said he was feeling much
better than before and that he still had to undergo some more medical
tests.
The Trial Chamber found Blaskic guilty of war crimes committed against
local Muslims in central Bosnia in 1993 and sentenced him to 45 years
in prison.
Blaskic's lawyers insist on his acquittal or a retrial.
(Hina) ms sb