WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Hina) - Luka Misetic, an attorney for runaway Croatian general Ante Gotovina, whom the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague denies the right to file motions for not having defence counsel status, said on Wednesday
this fact was irrelevant because he filed a request for dismissing the indictment against Gotovina in his capacity as an amicus curiae.
WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Hina) - Luka Misetic, an attorney for runaway
Croatian general Ante Gotovina, whom the UN war crimes tribunal in
The Hague denies the right to file motions for not having defence
counsel status, said on Wednesday this fact was irrelevant because
he filed a request for dismissing the indictment against Gotovina
in his capacity as an amicus curiae. #L#
This lawyer from Chicago yesterday filed a request with the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)
asking it to dismiss the amended indictment against Gotovina, which
ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte submitted to the court for
confirmation.
Spokespersons for the ICTY and its office of the prosecutor, Jim
Landale and Florence Hartmann, said yesterday the request had no
legal effect because Misetic did not have the status of Gotovina's
defence counsel.
In a statement sent to Hina's correspondent in Washington, Misetic
said that he filed the request not in his capacity as Gotovina's
attorney but as an amicus curiae.
In the same request in which he asked for dismissal of the amended
indictment, Misetic also requested the competent judge to
recognise his status as an amicus curiae to enable him to file
requests with the tribunal.
Presenting arguments for his request, Misetic said that the ICTY
had already allowed individuals to file motions in the case of
Radovan Karadzic in their capacity as amici curiae before
Karadzic's arrest and hand-over to the tribunal.
The ICTY does not recognise a defendant's defence attorney before
the defendant appears before the court. Gotovina has been on the run
since 2001, when the ICTY indicted him for crimes against humanity
and breaches of the laws and customs of war in the course of and
after Operation "Storm".
Landale said the ICTY would not consider Misetic's motion since he
did not have any status at the court. Hartmann said that due to his
lack of any status, Misetic's filing the motion was "a waste of
time", as the motion could not be received in keeping with the law.
Misetic told Hina that the court did not recognise him as Gotovina's
defence attorney, but it did recognise him as an amicus curiae.
He also stated that seven months ago the ICTY recognised Bosiljko
Misetic as a defence attorney for General Janko Bobetko and
instructed him to serve the late general with an indictment.
Hartmann has said this does not mean that some comments,
information or legal opinions presented to the court have no value,
but that such efforts will have no effect as long as the accused is
on the run.
At the beginning of this month Misetic filed a motion with the
tribunal in his capacity as an amicus curiae to dismiss the
indictment against Gotovina, as two victims named in the indictment
had in the meantime been proven to be alive. In the amended
indictment, Del Ponte has left out the section referring to the two
victims. Misetic believes that this is a result of his motion.
(hina) rml