MOSTAR COURT ACQUITS FOUR CROATS CHARGED WITH WAR CRIMES

MOSTAR, April 18 (Hina) - The Mostar Canton Court on Wednesday acquitted and released four Mostar Croats charged with war crimes committed against Muslim civilians and soldiers in Mostar in 1993. Zeljko Dzidic Dzida, Mate Anicic, Ivan Skutor and Erhard Poznic were acquitted on charges of torture and killing of 24 Muslim soldiers. The trial of the four Croats started on November 23 last year following approval by the Hague war crimes tribunal. It is stated in an explanation accompanying the court ruling that no written piece of evidence has been found proving the four men committed war crimes or approved inhumane treatment on the premises of Mostar's Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, which was used as a prison during the war. The prosecution was also unable to prove charges of senior responsibility. The court believes the trial has proved that violations of the humanitarian law and the law of war did take place, but no one of the indicted committed or ordered such criminal acts. In most cases, those crimes were committed or ordered by unidentified persons, Judge Mladen Jurisic said and urged the police to continue their investigation with the aim of discovering the actual perpetrators. (hina) rml