ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - The U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague does not forward indictments but considers cases which the local judiciary carries through, the Zagreb branch of the tribunal's prosecutor's office said on Monday.
Mathias Hellman, spokesman for the office, spoke to reporters commenting on a news that the cantonal court the southern Bosnia and Herzegovina town of Mostar had received from the tribunal three indictments against 27 Bosnian Muslims. Hellman said the tribunal considered submitted information and established whether there existed any hurdles to the continuation of proceedings. Rules of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) stipulate that Bosnia has to seek the tribunal's permission to hold war crimes trials in home courts. Quoting a source from the Mostar-based Herzegovina-Neretva Cantonal Court who wants to remain anonymous, Hina last Friday rep
SPOKESMAN SAYS ICTY GIVES GREEN LIGHT FOR PROCEEDINGS IN BOSNIA
ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - The U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague does
not forward indictments but considers cases which the local
judiciary carries through, the Zagreb branch of the tribunal's
prosecutor's office said on Monday.
Mathias Hellman, spokesman for the office, spoke to reporters
commenting on a news that the cantonal court the southern Bosnia and
Herzegovina town of Mostar had received from the tribunal three
indictments against 27 Bosnian Muslims.
Hellman said the tribunal considered submitted information and
established whether there existed any hurdles to the continuation
of proceedings.
Rules of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia (ICTY) stipulate that Bosnia has to seek the tribunal's
permission to hold war crimes trials in home courts.
Quoting a source from the Mostar-based Herzegovina-Neretva
Cantonal Court who wants to remain anonymous, Hina last Friday
reported the ICTY prosecutor's office had forwarded to the court
the said three indictments.
The court today said it had been granted permission by the ICTY to
prosecute 23 Bosnian Muslims for crimes committed against Bosnian
Croats in Mostar, and disclosed their names.
Court president Castimir Mandaric said the ICTY had assessed that
out of a total 28 persons for whom permission had been sought, for
five there was no founded suspicion that they had committed the
crimes attributed them.
According to Mandaric, this means that 20 suspects have been
charged with war crimes against prisoners of war committed in a
primary school and the Bijelo Polje suburb of eastern Mostar, while
three have been charged with war crimes against civilians in
Gnojnica, another eastern Mostar suburb.
Mandaric said detention was mandatory for all suspects, and pointed
to financial difficulties expected to arise as several dozen
attorneys will be engaged in the case.
He also said the ICTY had been requested to grant permission to
local courts for the investigation of "several hundred" people.
(hina) ha