PROSECUTORS AND LAWYERS OF TUTA & STELA TO MAKE CLOSING SPEECHES ON MONDAY

ZAGREB, Oct 27 (Hina) - The prosecutors and defence lawyers in the case against two Bosnian Croats - Mladen Naletilic alias Tuta and Vinko Martinovic alias Stela - on Monday will give their closing arguments before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). #L# The two indictees Naletilic (54) and Martinovic (38) are accused by the ICTY of war crimes which the Convicts' Battalion committed in the area of Mostar and Jablanica during the Croat-Muslim conflict in 1993. At the time, Naletilic was the commander of the said battalion, while Martinovic was at the helm of an anti-terrorist unit called "Mrmak" which was active within this battalion. Both are indicted, on the basis of their personal liability as well as on the command responsibility, for crimes against humanity, serious breaches of the Geneva conventions and violations of the law and customs of war. Martinovic was transferred from Zagreb to the ICTY's detention centre at The Hague on 9 August 1999, and his extradition passed without major problems. The extradition of Naletilic, however, was surrounded with some problems and procrastination. The ICTY reported Croatia to the UN Security Council over a lack of cooperation of Zagreb in this case. First, the then Croatian authorities tried to postpone Naletilic's transfer justifying the delay with the indictee's poor health. He, however, was handed over on 21 March 2000. The trial in the Naletilic & Martinovic case commenced on 9 September 2001. In their first appearance before the Hague-based tribunal, both Martinovic and Naletilic entered a plea of not guilty. (hina) ms