CROATIAN OFFICERS' CORPS SURPRISED BY BLASKIC SENTENCE

ZAGREB, Mar 6 (Hina) - The Croatian Officers' Corps (HCZ) is surprised by the "draconian sentence" The Hague war crimes tribunal has passed against Bosnian Croat general Tihomir Blaskic, the HCZ said in a statement on Monday. The trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia did not prove Blaskic's individual responsibility, the statement said, further pointing out Blaskic did not have influence over the policy implemented by the command of the Croat Defence Council. If the Blaskic sentence is a judicial error, it must be eliminated during appeal, but if it is of a political nature, then it is a sentence passed against the Croat people who had the strength and the courage to oppose Serb aggression and defend a young state, as well as its centuries-long existence in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the statement said. Pointing out that every crime, including the one in the central Bosnian village of Ahmici, for which Blaskic was sentenced, should be punished, the HCZ maintains that the Croatian policy in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina did not have crime as a goal. Its goal was humane and noble first and foremost, to protect the existence and sovereignty of the Croat people in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, said the statement signed by HCZ president Velibor Kikerec. (hina) ha mm