VERDICT IN BLASKIC CASE TO BE DELIVERED ON MARCH 3

ZAGREB, Feb 22 (Hina) - Almost three years after the start of the trial of General Tihomir Blaskic, a former commander of the Croat Bosnian Defence Council (HVO) Central Bosnian Operative Zone, the Hague Tribunal's trial chamber is to pronounce a ruling on March 3, the Hague-based International War Crimes Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said on Tuesday. Almost seven months ago, in the end of July 1999, in its closing speech the prosecution asked the Tribunal to sentence Blaskic to life in prison for crimes he allegedly committed in the Lasva River valley during the Croat-Moslem conflict. What he left behind himself are death and destruction, only to accomplish the political goals of Bosnian Croats to have a single- nation state. The price was too high, claimed a prosecutor, Gregory Kehoe, in the Hague on that occasion. On the other hand, the defence asked that Blaskic be acquitted. Do not try him as a symbol but try him as a man... The HVO was not a criminal organisation, crimes were committed by persons who have their names and surnames, said Blaskic's defence attorney Anto Nobilo in his closing speech on July 30. Blaskic as a honourable man and a honourable general readily stood before you to answer for what he did or failed to do but not for what others did, Nobilo said. Blaskic has been detained in Schevenningen since he voluntarily surrendered on 1 April 1996. The Prosecution accused Blaskic of having allegedly committed crimes against humanity, breached of the laws and customs of war and violated the Geneva conventions during the Croat-Moslem conflict from May 1992 to January 1994, including a crime when 116 Moslems (Bosniaks) were massacred in the village of Ahmici. Blaskic is charged in line with the commanding chain. In this trial over 150 witnesses were questioned and thousands of pages of evidence material were submitted. (hina) jn ms