THE HAGUE, Mar 3 (Hina) - The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Friday sentenced Tihomir Blaskic, former commander of the central Bosnian Operative Zone, to 45 years in prison.
THE HAGUE, Mar 3 (Hina) - The Hague-based International Criminal
Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Friday sentenced Tihomir
Blaskic, former commander of the central Bosnian Operative Zone, to
45 years in prison. #L#
Blaskic was found guilty of all counts contained in the indictment
against him, except for the shelling of Zenica in 1993. The counts
include crimes against humanity, violations of the laws or customs
of war, and grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions during the
Croat-Muslim war in central Bosnia between May 1992 and January
1994.
The Trial Chamber declared that the Lasva River valley conflict was
international in nature, confirming for the first time Croatia's
involvement in the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The ICTY Prosecution in July last year requested that Blaskic be
sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes committed in the Croat-
Muslim war in the Lasva River valley in April 1993, including the
gravest crime - the one in the village of Ahmici, when more than 100
Muslim civilians were killed. The defence requested that Blaskic be
acquitted.
(hina) mm rml