ZAGREB, Sept 28 (Hina) - An indictment against Slobodan Milosevic has not been issued yet, but the UN war crimes tribunal (ICTY) chief prosecutor on Thursday handed judges a document referring to his responsibility for the war in
Croatia for verification.
ZAGREB, Sept 28 (Hina) - An indictment against Slobodan Milosevic
has not been issued yet, but the UN war crimes tribunal (ICTY) chief
prosecutor on Thursday handed judges a document referring to his
responsibility for the war in Croatia for verification.#L#
If the document is verified, it will become an indictment, a
spokeswoman for the ICTY's Prosecutor's Office told Hina on the
phone on Friday.
World news agencies today announced that chief prosecutor Carla del
Ponte had signed a new indictment charging Milosevic with war
crimes committed during the 1991-5 war in Croatia.
Spokeswoman Florence Hartmann said today there was no indictment
against Milosevic regarding Croatia. Yesterday the chief
prosecutor provided the judges with a document on information
available to her about Milosevic's accountability for crimes
committed in Croatia, she added.
When a judge reads the document and related material, and confirms
it, it becomes an indictment against Milsoevic for what happened in
Croatia, she said.
Milosevic, who is in custody of the UN court at The Hague, is already
charged with crimes against humanity his troops committed in Kosovo
while he ruled Yugoslavia.
Hartmann reminded that when the ICTY issues an indictment, the
document is dated twice, first when the chief prosecutor hands it
for verification, and later when the document is verified by a judge
and becomes an official indictment.
No details are available at present as the document is
confidential, the spokeswoman said, adding it would become public
upon verification. Then it will be said that an indictment has been
filed against the former Yugoslav head of state, she explained.
Asked if one or more judges verify the document, Hartmann said it
was usually just one.
ICTY spokesman Jim Landale confirmed to Hina today that the
document on Milosevic's responsibility for war crimes in Croatia
had been handed a judge for consideration.
The judge will either verify or dismiss it, based on whether the
evidence therein is strong enough, Landale said, but could not
specify how long the document would be considered.
(hina) ha/ms sb