THE HAGUE, March 10 (Hina) - With the testimonies of members of the 4th battalion of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) Military Police and HVO's unit for special purposes "Jokers", the ICTY prosecution this week ended their part of
the proceedings in the trial against Dario Kordic and Mario Cerkez, presenting to the trial chamber a photograph of the two Bosnian Croats as people who had, each on different levels of authority, participated in the organised ethnic persecution of Moslems, the first in the entire region of the then Herzeg-Bosnia, and the second in the Vitez municipality area. The defence of the former deputy president of Herzeg-Bosnia and former commander of the Vitez brigade will on April 10, after a month of preparations, begin refuting evidence and witness presented by the prosecution in the past 11 months. The defence counsel had earlier announced it would need five to nine months to prepare
THE HAGUE, March 10 (Hina) - With the testimonies of members of the
4th battalion of the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) Military Police
and HVO's unit for special purposes "Jokers", the ICTY prosecution
this week ended their part of the proceedings in the trial against
Dario Kordic and Mario Cerkez, presenting to the trial chamber a
photograph of the two Bosnian Croats as people who had, each on
different levels of authority, participated in the organised
ethnic persecution of Moslems, the first in the entire region of the
then Herzeg-Bosnia, and the second in the Vitez municipality area.
The defence of the former deputy president of Herzeg-Bosnia and
former commander of the Vitez brigade will on April 10, after a
month of preparations, begin refuting evidence and witness
presented by the prosecution in the past 11 months.
The defence counsel had earlier announced it would need five to nine
months to prepare.
Besides many witnesses, from commanders of the UNPROFOR and EU
monitoring mission to Moslem victims who had already testified at
the trial of the former commander of the Central Bosnia Operative
zone, Tihomir Blaskic, the prosecution in this case brought
witnesses who had "internally " testified about the separatist
policy of Herzeg-Bosnia, the organisation and actions of the
Bosnian Croats' military forces, the roles of Kordic and Cerkez.
Former member of the Presidency of Bosnia-Herzegovina Stjepan
Kljuic, commanders and soldiers of the Croatian Defence Council
(HVO) also testified before the trial chamber of the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The chamber is
presided by British judge Richard May.
According to the witnesses, Kordic was one of the most powerful
people in central Bosnia, a political leader without whose
knowledge the ethnic cleansing could not have taken place in the
region, and who had, through Blaskic, but also directly, carried
out political decisions from Mostar, and had demonstrated his
influence in negotiations and contacts with a number of
international witnesses who had been present in Bosnia-Herzegovina
in 1992 and 1993.
As in Blaskic's trial, in this one the prosecution had equally
provided evidence that the conflicts in the country were of an
international nature through the direct involvement of Croatia in
the Croat-Moslem conflicts.
Besides international witnesses, local residents also testified
about the presence of Croatian Army troops.
The trial began on April 12, 1999.
The prosecution brought out 114 witnesses, about 50 of whom
identities were protected, and a part of the trial was held at
closed sessions.
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