ICTY: APPEALS OF MUCIC AND OTHERS FROM CELEBICI REJECTED

THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, April 8 (Hina) - The Appeals Chamber of the Hague- based UN war crimes tribunal (ICTY) on Tuesday refused appeals of the accused -- Bosnian Croat Zdravko Mucic and Muslims Hazim Delic and Esad Landzo -- indicted for war crimes committed over Serb prisoners in the Celebici camp in 1993 and 1994, and confirmed their sentences. #L# During this process led after appeals were filed against the changed sentences, which another trial chamber announced on 9 October 2001, the Chamber of Appeals turned down the appeals and confirmed that there were grounds for altering the previous sentence of seven yeas to nine years in prison for Mucic, and for reducing Delic's sentence from 20 to 18 years. Landzo's sentence, declared by the first trial chamber, of 15 years in prison was today confirmed. The ruling of the first trial chamber was announced in 1998. "The three appellants were convicted after their trial on charges that, in their respective capacities as commander (Mucic), deputy commander (Delic) and guard (Landzo) at the Celebici camp in Central Bosnia and Herzegovina, they were responsible for killing, torturing, sexually assaulting, beating and otherwise subjecting detainees in that camp to cruel and inhumane treatment," read a press release issued by the tribunal on its web site on Tuesday. Mucic was sentenced to nine years in prison as he was found responsible for those crimes in his capacity as the camp commander. His deputy Delic and guard Landzo were given harsher sentences as, according to the court, they personally killed and tortured the detained persons. The time spent in custody will be calculated into their sentences. Mucic has been in custody since 18 March 1996 when he was arrested in Austria. Delic and Landzo have been in custody since May that year as well. (hina) ms sb