THE HAGUE, Oct 28 (Hina) - Prosecutors of the Hague-based war crimes tribunal on Monday urged judges to declare Bosnian Croats Mladen Naletilic aka Tuta and Vinko Martinovic aka Stela guilty of war crimes committed in the area of
Mostar in 1993, stating that they had proved every count of the indictment.
THE HAGUE, Oct 28 (Hina) - Prosecutors of the Hague-based war crimes
tribunal on Monday urged judges to declare Bosnian Croats Mladen
Naletilic aka Tuta and Vinko Martinovic aka Stela guilty of war
crimes committed in the area of Mostar in 1993, stating that they
had proved every count of the indictment. #L#
Naletilic, a former commander of the so-called Convicts'
Battalion, since April 17, 1993 had headed an operation of ethnic
cleansing, prosecutor Kenneth Scott said, addressing a panel of
judges presided by Chinese judge Liu Daqun. Scott said that the
prosecution had confirmed every count of the indictment during the
14-month trial.
Naletilic beat prisoners in front of his soldiers, thus showing
that such behaviour was normal, the prosecutor said, stressing that
witnesses spoke about Tuta's charisma and that his subordinates
considered him a war hero and some sort of mythical person.
Speaking about Martinovic's responsibility for the committed
crimes, prosecutor Douglas Stringer said that Martinovic had
ordered, committed and encouraged his subordinates to commit
criminal acts against Muslims, both prisoners of war and
civilians.
Tuta and Stela wielded great power and decided between life and
death, freedom and imprisonment, and whether one was allowed to
keep one's property or not, Scott said.
They wanted power, but not responsibility, Scott said, urging a
guilty verdict.
Naletilic and Martinovic are accused in line with command and
personal responsibility for crimes against humanity, grave
breaches of the Geneva conventions and violations of the laws and
customs of war, committed in Mostar and Jablanica in 1993. At the
time, Naletilic commanded the Convicts' Battalion and Martinovic
its anti-terrorist unit "Vinko Skrobo".
Martinovic was taken to the prison in The Hague on August 9, 1999,
and Naletilic was handed over on March 21, 2001 following repeated
refusals by Croatia to extradite him. Their trial started on
September 10, 2001.
The prosecution will continue presenting closing arguments.
(hina) rml sb