PASKO LJUBICIC SERVED WITH ICTY INDICTMENT

ZAGREB, Nov 14 (Hina) - The Zagreb County Court on Wednesday officially delivered an International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) indictment to Pasko Ljubicic for crimes against humanity and war crimes. "Investigating judge Mirjana Rigljan officially served Ljubicic with the ICTY indictment about 10 AM Wednesday," Ljubicic's defence attorney Tomislav Jonjic told Hina. He added Ljubicic stood mute, as he did during his first appearance before the investigating judge after surrendering. Ljubicic turned himself in to the Interior Ministry in Zagreb on November 9, after more than a year of hiding from the Croatian judicial authorities, which issued a domestic arrest warrant after him in September last year, and an international one via Interpol. Jonjic said his client decided to stand mute in order to accelerate his departure to The Hague. After receiving the indictment, Ljubicic was taken back to custody to wait for a Zagreb County Court decision on the ICTY request for his extradition. Ljubicic has eight days to appeal the decision, but according to his defence attorney, he will not do so because he wants to come before the Hague-based tribunal as soon as possible where he will enter a plea of not guilty. Jonjic expects the decision on the extradition in two days. In late October, the ICTY charged Ljubicic with crimes against humanity for his alleged role in 1992-93 atrocities against Muslims in central Bosnia, where he commanded a military police battalion. According to the indictment, the worst crime is a brutal raid by Bosnian Croat militia on the Muslim village of Ahmici in April 1993. More than 100 civilians, including women and children, were killed there and their houses demolished, spearheading a wider Muslim- Croat conflict. (hina) it