ZAGREB/THE HAGUE, Feb 18 (Hina) - Croatian Defence Council general Tihomir Blaskic on Thursday continued defending himself at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague. The accused Blaskic, whose trial
began on June 24, 1997, on Wednesday began testifying in his own defence. On Thursday, the defendant resumed his description of the situation in Kiseljak, a municipality near the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, to which he arrived at the beginning of the war in Bosnia, to assist in organising the defence. Blaskic emphasised all state institutions in Bosnia disintegrated after the Serbian aggression began. Armed incidents became increasingly frequent in such circumstances and as a result of the large-scale armament of the population. The armed incidents were not ethnically motivated at first, he said. Blaskic said he had been appointed commander of HVO's operational zone in central Bosnia at a June 27
ZAGREB/THE HAGUE, Feb 18 (Hina) - Croatian Defence Council general
Tihomir Blaskic on Thursday continued defending himself at the
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The
Hague.
The accused Blaskic, whose trial began on June 24, 1997, on
Wednesday began testifying in his own defence.
On Thursday, the defendant resumed his description of the situation
in Kiseljak, a municipality near the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo,
to which he arrived at the beginning of the war in Bosnia, to assist
in organising the defence.
Blaskic emphasised all state institutions in Bosnia disintegrated
after the Serbian aggression began. Armed incidents became
increasingly frequent in such circumstances and as a result of the
large-scale armament of the population. The armed incidents were
not ethnically motivated at first, he said.
Blaskic said he had been appointed commander of HVO's operational
zone in central Bosnia at a June 27, 1992 meeting in Grude, which was
also attended by Mate Boban, Ante Roso, and Milivoj Petkovic.
The defendant also spoke about an incident mentioned in the
indictment's first article. According to the indictment, HVO
forces on August 8, 1992 destroyed a mosque in Duhra, a village in
Kiseljak Municipality.
Blaskic said that four days prior to the incident, members of the
Muslim Territorial Defence had set up barricades, thus making all
movement in the village impossible. After two-day battles, the HVO
managed to remove the barricades, without touching the mosque, he
said.
The defendant allowed the possibility the mosque may have been hit
by a stray projectile. Two days afterwards, he said he met the
village Muslim priest who told him the conflict in the village had
been provoked by Muslim extremists.
(hina) ha jn