THE HAGUE, May 21 (Hina) - A former leader of Croatian Serb rebels, Milan Martic, told the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague on Tuesday that he did not feel guilty for shelling downtown Zagreb seven years ago when seven
civilians were killed and many citizens wounded.
THE HAGUE, May 21 (Hina) - A former leader of Croatian Serb rebels,
Milan Martic, told the international war crimes tribunal in The
Hague on Tuesday that he did not feel guilty for shelling downtown
Zagreb seven years ago when seven civilians were killed and many
citizens wounded. #L#
"I do not feel guilty", Martic told Chinese judge Liu Daqun for each
of the four items of his indictment accusing him of violations of
the rights and customs of war by shelling Zagreb on May 2 and 3,
1995. He said that his attorney would provide further explanation
for the "act he committed".
Prior to leaving for The Hague, Martic and the director of the
"Veritas" centre, Sava Strbac, kept repeating Martic had issued the
order to shell Zagreb because it was a case of "emergency, since
Serbs in western Slavonia were in jeopardy".
Martic later corrected his claim and began saying that he had only
issued the order to shell military facilities in Zagreb.
The then president of the self-declared Republic of Srpska Krajina
issued orders to Croatian Serb troops to attack three Croatian
towns, including downtown Zagreb with cluster bombs, in
retaliation for the Croatian military liberation operation
"Flash". The sole purpose of cluster bombs is to kill people, reads
the Hague indictment issued only two months after the crime.
As the tribunal's chief prosecutor, Carl del Ponte, announced
earlier this month, Martic's indictment will be extended to other
crimes committed in Croatia. The date of the extension is not yet
known.
In the indictment against former Yugoslav president Slobodan
Milosevic for crimes in Croatia, Martic is mentioned as one of the
participants in a joint crime whose goal was to force out Croatian
and other non-Serb populations from a third of Croatian territory,
and attach it to Serbia.
After living in the Bosnian Serb entity for some time, Martic spent
the last few years hiding in Serbia under an assumed name.
Together with the ex-Yugoslav People's Army commander for Vukovar,
Mile Mrksic, Martic surrendered to The Hague on Wednesday, almost
seven years after his indictment was issued.
(hina) lml sb