SARAJEVO, Sept 23 (Hina) - Bosnia-Herzegovina's Council of Ministers has received no official information about any new indictments which the UN war crimes tribunal (ICTY) might issue against some current or former officials from
state of Croat-Muslim federal authorities. A spokeswoman for the ministerial council (Bosnia's government), Mirjana Micevska, told Hina on Sunday that the council had been neither notified of such indictments nor had it discussed the alleged indictments prepared by the Tribunal at The Hague. According to the procedure, the tribunal forwards all warrants for the arrest of suspects via the Bosnian foreign ministry to the state authorities in Sarajevo. A spokesman for the ministry, Amer Kapetanovic, declined to comment on these media speculations on secret indictments which allegedly arrived in Sarajevo. "I would not like to comment on such allegations," Kapetanovic told Hina.
SARAJEVO, Sept 23 (Hina) - Bosnia-Herzegovina's Council of
Ministers has received no official information about any new
indictments which the UN war crimes tribunal (ICTY) might issue
against some current or former officials from state of Croat-Muslim
federal authorities.
A spokeswoman for the ministerial council (Bosnia's government),
Mirjana Micevska, told Hina on Sunday that the council had been
neither notified of such indictments nor had it discussed the
alleged indictments prepared by the Tribunal at The Hague.
According to the procedure, the tribunal forwards all warrants for
the arrest of suspects via the Bosnian foreign ministry to the state
authorities in Sarajevo. A spokesman for the ministry, Amer
Kapetanovic, declined to comment on these media speculations on
secret indictments which allegedly arrived in Sarajevo.
"I would not like to comment on such allegations," Kapetanovic told
Hina.
Sunday's issues of the Sarajevo press speculated about new
indictments of some ten prominent current and former Croat and
Muslim political and military officials.
A 'Dnevni Avaz' daily gives a front-page report that one of those
indictees is the current federal minister in charge of refugees,
Sefer Halilovic, who was a war-time commander of the army of Bosnia-
Herzegovina. According to this daily, Halilovic, accompanied by
his lawyer Faruk Balijagic, should fly to The Hague on Monday.
Lawyer Balijagic said he had no knowledge about any such indictment
and added that he was not preparing himself for such trip. If
anything had happened, I would have to date been informed of it,"
Balijagic said.
Halilovic was not available for comment in the past two days.
According to the media's speculations, one of indictees is Dzevad
Mlaco, an influential official of (the Muslim) Party of Democratic
Action (SDA), who was the mayor of the town of Bugojno during the
Croat-Muslim conflict in that area and who was two years ago
forbidden by the Office of the international community's High
Representative (OHR) to take any public post.
Another persons wanted by the ICTY are Zulfikar Alispago alias
Zuko, Safet Cibo, and Ramiz Delalic believed to be responsible for
the atrocities committed against local Croats in the area of Konjic
and Jablanica in 1993.
Some Croats put at this list of 'suspects' are Jadranko Prlic,
Valentin Coric, Zlatan Mijo Jelic, Bruno Stojic and Pero Markovic,
prominent figures in the Croat community of Herzeg-Bosnia who are,
according to media speculations, liable for the set-up of
concentration camps for Muslims in the Mostar area.
Prlic is also a senior official of the incumbent authorities in
Sarajevo.
All of these names have several times been mentioned in
speculations which have to date appeared in the media and public,
but there has never been any official confirmation of such
rumours.
(hina) ms