ZAGREB, Jan 14 (Hina) - The defence counsel of General Tihomir Blaskic, sentenced to 45 years in prison by the international war crimes tribunal's trial chamber, has requested Blaskic's acquittal or a retrial, attorney Anto Nobilo
said on Monday.
ZAGREB, Jan 14 (Hina) - The defence counsel of General Tihomir
Blaskic, sentenced to 45 years in prison by the international war
crimes tribunal's trial chamber, has requested Blaskic's acquittal
or a retrial, attorney Anto Nobilo said on Monday. #L#
In a telephone conversation with Hina, Blaskic's attorney said that
the appeal consisting of 200 pages would be sent by fax to The Hague
from Los Angeles, from the office of Russel Haymen, an American
lawyer who, together with Nobilo, is representing the former
Bosnian Croat Defence Council (HVO) and Croatian Army general.
The appeal is founded on new documents found in the archives of the
Croatian Intelligence Service, the Croatian President's Office and
the Bosnian Army General Staff.
"That these are exceptionally important documents can be seen by
the fact that during the time of (former Croatian president Franjo)
Tudjman's rule, they could not be obtained by either the defence
attorneys or the Hague tribunal, not even following a subpoena,"
Nobilo said.
The first ten pages of the appeal consist of introductory notes,
followed by 60 pages of text in which the attorneys explain the
faulty application of justice in the verdict of first instance with
regard to the command and direct responsibility, as well as the
international character of the conflicts in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The remainder of the appeal consists of facts and a reconstruction
of events in Central Bosnia from late 1992 and the first half of
1993. This section supplements earlier evidence with new
documents, Nobilo said.
The appeal process, according to attorney Nobilo, should be
completed by the end of this year.
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic confirmed today that the
government's Office for Cooperation with the Hague Tribunal had
been given all documents requested to appeal Blaskic's sentence.
The tribunal will decide how much the documents will be of use to
General Blaskic, Mesic said, adding the Presidential Office would
continue to cooperate with the tribunal.
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