KARLOVAC, July 31 (Hina) - The court in the Croatian town of Karlovac on Wednesday proclaimed Fikret Abdic guilty of war crimes and sentenced him to 20-year-long imprisonment.
KARLOVAC, July 31 (Hina) - The court in the Croatian town of
Karlovac on Wednesday proclaimed Fikret Abdic guilty of war crimes
and sentenced him to 20-year-long imprisonment. #L#
Abdic was tried for war crimes against civilians and prisoners of
war on two counts of the indictment which was issued in August 1996
by the High Public Prosecutor in Bihac, north-western Bosnia-
Herzegovina.
Pursuant to a ruling by the Supreme Court of Croatia, the trial was
transferred to Croatia's judiciary a year ago, namely to the
Karlovac County Court, based on an agreement between the
governments of the two countries regarding legal assistance signed
in 1996. Abdic has the dual citizenship (Croatian and Bosnian) and
therefore could be tried in Croatia, after he surrendered himself
to Rijeka police. He has been in the custody in Karlovac since June
27 last year, and his trial began in September.
The charges against Abdic burden him with acting against the
Bosnia's Constitution when he proclaimed the Autonomous Region of
Western Bosnia and as supreme commander of the so-called National
Defence of Western Bosnia, ordered, planned and organised the
opening of prisoner of war camps and collection centres in the
Velika Kladusa Municipality for the purpose of detaining citizens
who opposed the autonomous region.
The charges note that the camps were a site of inhumane treatment,
forced military service in paramilitary units, forced hunger and
forced labour for enemy forces.
The panel of judges accepted documents and testimonies of witnesses
who said that at least three people died of the consequences of
torture in the camps where five thousand people were detained
during the existence of such places.
The prosecution believes that it was proved that Abdic had known of
the illegal conduct in the camps but he failed to do anything to
prevent such behaviour.
Expounding the first-instance ruling, Jasminka Jerinic-Musnjak,
the president of the panel of judges in the Karlovac county court,
said the verdict was based on the Croatia's Penal Code, and the
sentence was maximum, as the acts cited in the indictment were
treated as the gravest crimes according to Croatia's law and
international humanitarian law.
The panel of judges believes that the punishment must be of this
kind as to clearly show that war crimes, particularly those
committed by senior officials in the structure of authority, are
condemned by the civilised and democratic society, she said.
The sentence contains not only the punishment of the defendant, but
also an element of the so-called general prevention which must
clearly show that such conduct was impermissible and punishable,
Ms. Jerinic Musnjak said.
She added that during the trial the defendant had shown no regrets
over the suffering of people detained in the camps.
Abdic's defence lawyers, who claimed that he was innocent, asked
for his acquittal. The defence forwarded documents referring to
that legal bodies proclaimed the set-up of the Autonomous Region of
Western Bosnia. The defence lawyers said the system of the
authorities and responsibilities was well defined in that autonomy
and that there was no document or decree which shows that Abdic
ordered the violation of international law.
About 450 residents from Velika Kladusa, a town in western Bosnia,
who are loyal to Abdic, waited in front of the Karlovac court for the
announcement of the verdict. After they heard of the ruling, they
chanted "Babo", referring to the nickname of Abdic, who was adored
by a majority of Velika Kladusa population for his pre-war economic
success in his hometown where he had created jobs for many local
residents in his food factories in late 1980s.
Abdic's defence can appeal against this first-instance ruling.
Abdic has recently forwarded his candidacy for a member of Bosnia's
collective presidency. Bosnian Electoral Commission on 23 July
officially confirmed that it had approved his candidacy for the
Bosniak (Muslim) member of the country's three-man Presidency at
the election in October this year. #L#
Abdic was proposed on behalf of his party the Democratic National
Community of BiH. He can run in the election until the final ruling
on his case.
(hina) ms