TRIAL OF NALETILIC AND MARTINOVIC LIKELY TO COMMENCE IN SEPTEMBER

ZAGREB, April 9 (Hina) - The trial of two Bosnian Croats - Mladen Naletilic alias Tuta and Vinko Martinovic alias Stela - accused of war crimes which the Convicts' Battalion perpetrated in Mostar during the Croat-Muslim conflict, may commence in September 2001, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) reported. Mladen Naletilic Tuta was extradited to the Hague-based ICTY from Croatia after a tug-of-war between Zagreb and the Tribunal. The then Croatian authorities (led by the Croatian Democratic Union or HDZ) declared Naletilic as a person of national interest and refused to hand him over to The Hague. Consequently, the ICTY reported Croatia to the UN Security Council for a lack of cooperation. Naletilic is indicted of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against Muslims in Mostar in 1993 and 1994. Vinko Martinovic Stela, who is on the same indictment, was transferred to The Hague in August 1999. The ICTY announced that the trial of Bosnian Serbs Momcilo Krajisnik and Biljana Plavsic may commence in mid-November 2001 after the instalment of new judges. Krajisnik, a former member of Bosnia-Herzegovina's three-man presidency, and Plavsic, are accused of being implicated in genocide, violation of the law and customs of war, crimes against humanity and serious breaches of the Geneva convention during the war in Bosnia. (hina) ms