NOBILO DOESN'T BELIEVE BLASKIC CAN BE SENTENCED FOR AHMICI CRIME

THE HAGUE, May 21 (Hina) - Attorney Anto Nobilo on Friday said he did not believe his client, Bosnian Croat war crimes suspect Tihomir Blaskic, could be sentenced for negligence in the punishment of the perpetrators of a Muslim massacre in central Bosnian village Ahmici in 1993. Speaking at the end of this week's cross-examination of the defendant, Nobilo said that it has been clearly proved that General Blaskic had taken steps to the effect of investigating the crime, that the investigation was completed, that the names of the perpetrators of the Ahmici crime were determined, and that the report was forwarded to higher authorities. Even though the indictment also charges Blaskic with planning and executing the massacre of some 100 Muslims in April 1993, prosecutor Gregory Kehoe's recent efforts were aimed at proving Blaskic's negligence in investigating and punishing the perpetrators of the crime. Nobilo said it was irrelevant whether the investigation into the crime began on April 16 or 24, given that it failed to demonstrate utter negligence in the investigation. It was possible that Blaskic's efforts had not been the speediest, and it was possible that the decisions he made had not been the most efficient, the defence attorney said, but pointed out that such remarks did not qualify for a qualification of utter negligence in the wake of the fact that Blaskic's investigation did yield results. For this reason, Nobilo said he believed his client could not be sentenced for negligence in punishing the perpetrators of the Ahmici massacre. Nobilo explained that in instances of negligence in punishment, it was significant whether the responsible commander had taken the appropriate steps to punish the perpetrators, i.e. whether he had consciously neglected this act or had acted towards the investigation of the crime with criminal or utter negligence. Nobody has ever been held accountable for slow investigations, he concluded. (hina) ha