SERBIA-MONTENEGRO MINISTER: SLJIVANCANIN WILL BE TRIED BY ICTY

BELGRADE, April 13 (Hina) - Regardless of the arrest of several reported executors of the 1991 Ovcara massacre, Veselin Sljivancanin, who was indicted by The Hague-based U.N. war crimes tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), will be tried in The Hague, Serbia and Montenegro's Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic said. #L# "Some of those suspected of being the executors of the Ovcara crime have been arrested, but they have not been indicted by the tribunal's prosecution. If that is the case, they could be put on trial here and elements of the trial could help in proceedings against Sljivancanin before the tribunal in The Hague," Svilanovic said. Speaking in a programme on Serbia's BK Television, Svilanovic said the arrest of the executors could encourage Sljivancanin to surrender to the tribunal. The trial of those people before domestic courts could help him explain his role in the 1991 events in Vukovar, Svilanovic said. The minister said he had announced new indictments by the U.N. tribunal against six-seven persons to make citizens aware of the need to change the current law regulating cooperation with the tribunal, which does not include the possibility of handing over persons indicted by the tribunal after the adoption of the law (in April 2002). "After the law is changed tomorrow, we will be able to act according to the new indictments, but I can't tell if Jovica Stanisic, former head of the Serbian Interior Ministry's State Security Service, and Franko Simatovic, the founder and first commander of the Unit for Special Operations - the so-called Red Berets - would be indicted. They are under investigation, but it is up to The Hague prosecution to decide if they will be indicted or not," Svilanovic said. The minister said the conduct of the authorities in Belgrade had to be "credible" when they claimed that an ICTY indictee, General Ratko Mladic, was not in the country and under the protection of some military or police circles. (hina) rml