HAGUE WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL CONSENTS TO PROCEEDINGS AGAINST ABDIC

SARAJEVO, Jan 4 (Hina) - The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has given its consent to Bosnian judicial bodies to criminally pursue former Bosnian Presidency member Fikret Abdic, a Bosnian official said on Monday. According to Adamir Jerkovic, an advisor to Bosnian Presidency Moslem member Alija Izetbegovic, the ICTY prosecutor had notified Bosnian state authorities that he had reviewed documents related to the Abdic case. "The prosecutor concluded that the submitted evidence indicated the existence of founded suspicion that Fikret Abdic had seriously violated regulations of international law through inhumane treatment of civilians and prisoners of war and through forceful mobilisations. Our judicial bodies have thereby been given The Hague tribunal's consent to criminally pursue Fikret Abdic," Jerkovic told radio Bosnia-Herzegovina. The evidence against Abdic was submitted to The Hague tribunal in line with rules established at a Rome conference in 1996. These rules stated that local authorities in Bosnia may conduct criminal proceedings against war crimes suspects only with ICTY's permission. Jerkovic said the Office of the international High Representative for Bosnia had also been notified about the ICTY prosecutor's consent. (hina) ha