In a writ sent to the Prosecutor's Office and the defence counsel, the panel of judges, presided by Judge Alphonse Orie, requested that the parties submit more detailed information than in the indictment defining the position and rank of the accused in the military hierarchy, as well as their role in the commission of the crimes they are charged with.
The writ, which the ICTY released today, is dated November 3 and the deadline for answering it is November 10.
The panel said that the prosecution on September 2 suggested transferring the case of Ademi and Norac to Croatia under Rule 11 bis of the ICTY Rules of Procedure and Evidence and in line with Resolution 1534 of the UN Security Council on transferring the trials of medium and low-ranking indictees to national courts.
The writ reads that Norac's defence counsel answered to the proposal on September 14, while Ademi's defence counsel's answer has not been received yet.
Ademi's attorney Cedo Prodanovic told Hina that he had filed a motion to have the case transferred to Croatia in spring this year, when the cases of Ademi and Norac were still separate, and that this was the reason why he did not respond to the prosecution's proposal.
He did not comment on the writ, stating that he had just returned from The Hague and requested to be given time until November 16 to file the motion.
The panel of judges says in its writ that neither the prosecution nor the defence presented detailed information on the gravity of alleged crimes or the level of responsibility of the accused, especially in the context of Rule 11 bis.
It cited as an example the fact that Ademi and Norac are charged with the killing of 29 Serb civilians and five soldiers in the 1993 Medak Pocket operation, while the late general Janko Bobetko, indicted for the same operation, was charged with the murder of at least 100 Serbs.
Within the exit strategy of the UN tribunal, which was established by the UN Security Council, the ICTY Prosecutor's Office has so far suggested the transfer of five cases to national courts in the region, the first one being the case of Ademi and Norac.
During last week's visit to Zagreb, ICTY president Theodor Meron positively assessed the ability and readiness of the Croatian judiciary to prosecute war crimes in line with international standards, declining to comment on the case of the two generals to avoid influencing the panel's decision.
General Ademi was commander of the Gospic Military District during Operation Medak Pocket, while Colonel Norac was commander of one of the units which took part in the operation.
Ademi surrendered voluntarily to the ICTY on July 25, 2001. He was granted provisional release on February 21, 2001.
Norac was indicted in spring this year and is in Croatia serving a 12-year prison sentence for war crimes committed against Serb civilians in Gospic in 1991.