COURT: BOBETKO UNFIT FOR TRIAL

ZAGREB, Nov 28 (Hina) - Janko Bobetko, a retired Croatian general and indictee of the UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague, is not fit for trial and it is not possible momentarily to comply with the tribunal's request and order to arrest and hand him over, the Zagreb County Court said on Thursday. #L# Acting at the request of the court, a team from Zagreb's Medical School established Bobetko's inability to stand trial. "... retired general Janko Bobetko is not fit for trial and any psychological and physical pressure could cause a significant deterioration of his condition with a possible fatal outcome," the seven-member team said in a statement forwarded to the court today. The statement also mentions the regulation of the Law on Criminal Proceedings under which the physical inability of the accused can be the reason for discontinuing criminal proceedings. Under the same law, proceedings are resumed once the accused is again fit for trial. Under Regulation 59 of the Rules on Procedure and Evidence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the government should notify the ICTY Secretariat of the reasons for non-compliance with the ICTY's order on the handing of the indictment and arrest. The ICTY can then send its own medical team to establish if the indictee's condition prevents the implementation of its order. Bobetko was placed in the coronary unit of Zagreb's Dubrava Clinic's Institute for Heart Diseases on November 14 and the team of experts to assess his condition was set up on November 19 at the request of Zagreb County Court investigating judge Zoran Luburic. Bosiljko Misetic, one of Bobetko's attorneys, told Hina that he was satisfied with the court's decision and that "it was expected". The ICTY in September indicted the former Croatian Army chief-of- staff for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war, committed in September 1993 in the Medak Pocket area. (hina) rml sb