FILTER
Prikaži samo sadržaje koji zadovoljavaju:
objavljeni u periodu:
na jeziku:
hrvatski engleski
sadrže pojam:

BLASKIC CROSS-EXAMINED

THE HAGUE, Apr 13 (Hina) - The trial of Bosnian Croat General Tihomir Blaskic resumed at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague on Tuesday. Blaskic was cross-examined about the measures he, as Croatian Defence Council (HVO) commander for Operative Zone Central Bosnia, took to protect civilians during the Croat-Muslim conflict in 1993, and about his transfer from the HVO to the Croatian Army. Blaskic is charged with breaches of the Geneva conventions, the law and customs of war, and with crimes against humanity committed by his units in central Bosnia. The defendant, who received his military education in the former Yugoslav federation, explained that according to standards to which all educated in the former federation abided, commands contained no provisions on the protection of civilians. Blaskic said the commands he forwarded to senior commanders were written as if they had been inte
THE HAGUE, Apr 13 (Hina) - The trial of Bosnian Croat General Tihomir Blaskic resumed at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague on Tuesday. Blaskic was cross-examined about the measures he, as Croatian Defence Council (HVO) commander for Operative Zone Central Bosnia, took to protect civilians during the Croat-Muslim conflict in 1993, and about his transfer from the HVO to the Croatian Army. Blaskic is charged with breaches of the Geneva conventions, the law and customs of war, and with crimes against humanity committed by his units in central Bosnia. The defendant, who received his military education in the former Yugoslav federation, explained that according to standards to which all educated in the former federation abided, commands contained no provisions on the protection of civilians. Blaskic said the commands he forwarded to senior commanders were written as if they had been intended for a subordinate level, "with a lot more precision and concreteness." Whenever he had the chance he personally cautioned soldiers about the necessity to protect civilians. The prosecutor's attempt to bring into question the verity of Blaskic's earlier testimony about the functions he performed while serving in the former Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) ended by completely discrediting the truthfulness of the document submitted by the prosecution as evidence. Reminding Blaskic that he previously said his task at the Pivka garrison was assistant for morality, Gregory Kehoe confronted him with a JNA document stating that Blaskic's occupation was assistant for political affairs. The defendant pointed to the fact that the document in question bore the incorrect date of his request to be relieved, that two of his official assessments were also incorrectly dated, and that his mother's last name was also incorrect. "I did not command a firing squad," Blaskic concluded. Further in the cross-examination, the defendant said he was not familiar with the circumstances which resulted in his transfer from HVO Chief-Of-Staff to the Main Inspectorate of the Croatian Army in late 1995. Last Friday Blaskic said, "No consultations were conducted with me. I found out about that appointment on (HTV) Croatian Television." Last week the defendant said he found out about the ICTY indictment against him in the same way, in early November of 1995, when his wife told him the news was broadcast on HTV. Today Blaskic said he was relieved of duties at the HVO in 1995 by Kresimir Zubak, at that time president of Bosnia's Croat-Muslim Federation. He did not know however who signed the decision on his appointment to the Croatian Army. "I don't know who the signatory is, but I do know the command came from the supreme commander of Croatia's Armed Forces, Mr Franjo Tudjman." Blaskic was not sure whether the signature below the typed name of Croatia's President was that of President Tudjman or another person from the personnel service. Prosecutor Kehoe asked whether it was customary for the president of one country to order an officer from another to report to the army of the former. "I don't know whether that was customary or not. I know competition was possible," Blaskic said. He added there were transfers from the HVO and the Army of Bosnia- Herzegovina to the Croatian Army, but was unable to say the nationality of the officers who were transferred, nor could he name any. Blaskic denied meeting a Croatian official on his journey to Kiseljak, Bosnia, where he had been called to organise the defence, via Zagreb in 1992. "I didn't talk with officials of the government of the Republic of Croatia," Blaskic asserted. (hina) ha jn

VEZANE OBJAVE

An unhandled error has occurred. Reload 🗙