ZAGREB, April 29 (Hina) - A Bosnian Croat, indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), said before a three-member panel of judges at the Zagreb County Court on Tuesday the attack of Bosnian Croat
forces on the village of Stupni Do had not been planned, and added that the village was "a fortress rather than a civilian settlement".
ZAGREB, April 29 (Hina) - A Bosnian Croat, indicted by the
International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), said
before a three-member panel of judges at the Zagreb County Court on
Tuesday the attack of Bosnian Croat forces on the village of Stupni
Do had not been planned, and added that the village was "a fortress
rather than a civilian settlement". #L#
Addressing the panel of judges, which is to decide about a request
by the Hague-based tribunal for his transfer, Ivica Rajic presented
his version of what happened in Stupni Do in October 1993, when,
according to the ICTY indictment, at least 16 Muslim civilians were
killed.
Ivica Rajic, a commander of the Croat Defence Council (HVO), has
been indicted by the ICTY for war crimes committed in Stupni Do.
"As a man, soldier and Croat, I am proud of each of my deeds
conducted on behalf of my people and my homeland. I have no reason to
be ashamed or to run from the truth," Rajic told the panel of
judges.
He said the conflict in Stupni Do erupted during a war action in the
Vares area where, as he claimed, the local Croats called for
assistance from the HVO which was based in Kiseljak. He agreed on
the deployment to Vares with his commanders - General Milivoj
Petkovic and Colonel Tihomil Blaskic.
The plan was to liberate Vares. Stupni Do was not strategically
significant and the HVO did not intend to take over the village,
Rajic said and added that the entire conflict broke out
spontaneously when a few sniper shots were fired from the village
and a HVO soldier was killed.
Stupni Do resembled more a military base than any civilian
residential quarter Rajic claimed, adding that in the village there
were at least 150 Muslim specialist forces at the time.
If there were any civilian victims during the conflict then they
could only have fallen during the fiercest battles, Rajic said and
added that he was prepared to sacrifice his own life to defend this
truth.
Rajic's attorney Zeljko Olujic said the ICTY's request had no legal
basis and was contrary to Croatia's constitution and its
constitutional law on cooperation with the ICTY. He reiterated that
Rajic should be tried in Croatia.
Deputy Zagreb County prosecutor Ivan Plevko said that all legal
conditions for Rajic's transfer to The Hague had been met.
The judges' decision on the extradition request will be issued in
the written form, and there are no deadlines when the panel should
announce its ruling.
(hina) sp ms sb