THE HAGUE, Oct 29 (Hina) - The defence attorneys of Bosnian Croat Mladen Naletilic Tuta on Tuesday asked the Hague-based international war crimes tribunal to acquit their client, stating that the indictment was unclear, while
witnesses and evidence in the case were not credible.
THE HAGUE, Oct 29 (Hina) - The defence attorneys of Bosnian Croat
Mladen Naletilic Tuta on Tuesday asked the Hague-based
international war crimes tribunal to acquit their client, stating
that the indictment was unclear, while witnesses and evidence in
the case were not credible. #L#
"The indictment against Mladen Naletilic is unclear. It is unclear
what he is accused of," attorney Kresimir Krsnik said in his closing
statement.
The indictment is a one-sided view by the prosecution about events
which Tuta is charged with, Krsnik said, adding that the
prosecution had only tried to find evidence to support the
indictment, but failed.
The attorney said that the prosecution had not provided a single
document proving that Naletilic had been a general during the time
when crimes were committed, nor that he had been the commanding
officer of the Convicts' Battalion.
"Not one argument or piece of evidence proved Tuta's responsibility
in the crimes for which he has been indicted," Krsnik said.
The only witnesses to prove this are two German mercenaries who are
serving a life-long prison sentence for murder in Germany, who will
be put on re-trial if Naletilic is found guilty, the attorney
stressed.
Casting doubt on the credibility of other witnesses, another
defence attorney, Christopher Meeck, said that the testimonies
were mostly hear-say.
They are witnesses who received information from somebody else.
Their testimonies are based on reports they received from people in
the field, Meeck said.
The defence attorneys also attempted to contest the prosecution's
claim that there was an international conflict between Croats and
Moslems in Bosnia in 1993, stressing that it was a conflict between
the Bosnian Army and the Croat Defence Council (HVO), and documents
used to prove the international conflict were not credible.
Naletilic is accused of superior and individual responsibility for
crimes against humanity, grave violations of the Geneva
conventions and the laws and customs of war, committed in Mostar in
1993.
The prosecution has stated that at the time Naletilic had been the
commanding officer of the Convicts' Battalion.
He arrived in The Hague in March 2000 after Croatia's repeated
refusals to extradite him, which resulted in international
sanctions.
The trial against Naletilic and Vinko Martinovic Stela began last
September.
(hina) lml sb