BELGRADE EXPECTS SLJIVANCANIN TO SURRENDER TO ICTY

BELGRADE, April 22 (Hina) - Serbian and Montenegrin Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic said Tuesday he hoped Veselin Sljivancanin, indicted for war crimes in Vukovar, would follow in the footsteps of Miroslav Radic and surrender to The Hague-based war crimes tribunal (ICTY). #L# Svilanovic told Radio B92 that Radic had surrendered to the ICTY because he "accepted the facts that there are elements and evidence pointing to the fact that some other people committed the crime at Ovcara (a farm near Vukovar)". Serbian and Montenegrin Defence Minister Boris Tadic said that "there is much evidence that Radic might not even have participated in the crime at Ovcara". He added that the voluntary surrender of the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) captain would improve the country's international standing and its cooperation with the ICTY. Radic's attorney Borivoje Borovic said Radic could appear before the ICTY within ten to 15 days. According to Interior Minister Dusan Mihajlovic, an investigation into the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic revealed direct perpetrators of the 1991 crime at Ovcara, who were arrested. This could help Radic and Sljivancanin to clarify their roles in this crime, say Belgrade officials. Sljivancanin has told the media several times that he would "not surrender alive". Another former JNA officer, Mile Mrksic, also indicted for the Ovcara crime, surrendered to the ICTY last spring. (hina) lml sb