ZAGREB, June 30 (Hina) - Judges of The Hague Tribunal's Trial Chamber in the case of Zlatko Aleksovski, the commander of a prison facility at Kaonik, central Bosnia, at the time of the Croat-Muslim conflict in 1993, have different
stands about the nature of the conflict. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said in a statement today that two of the three members of the Trial Chamber - Lal Chand Vohrah and Rafael Nieto-Navia - believe the 1993 conflict in central Bosnia was not an international conflict, which resulted in the dropping of two counts from Aleksovski's indictment, which charged him with grave violations of the Geneva Conventions. However, the third judge, Almiro Rodriguez, who is also a member of the Trial Chamber in the trial of Tihomir Blaskic, dissented. Rodriguez believes the prosecution has proven that the conflict in the Busovaca area of central Bosn
ZAGREB, June 30 (Hina) - Judges of The Hague Tribunal's Trial
Chamber in the case of Zlatko Aleksovski, the commander of a prison
facility at Kaonik, central Bosnia, at the time of the Croat-Muslim
conflict in 1993, have different stands about the nature of the
conflict.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
(ICTY) said in a statement today that two of the three members of the
Trial Chamber - Lal Chand Vohrah and Rafael Nieto-Navia - believe
the 1993 conflict in central Bosnia was not an international
conflict, which resulted in the dropping of two counts from
Aleksovski's indictment, which charged him with grave violations
of the Geneva Conventions.
However, the third judge, Almiro Rodriguez, who is also a member of
the Trial Chamber in the trial of Tihomir Blaskic, dissented.
Rodriguez believes the prosecution has proven that the conflict in
the Busovaca area of central Bosnia, where the Kaonik prison was
located, was an international conflict. However, he also believes
it is irrelevant for violations of the Geneva Conventions whether
the conflict in central Bosnia was an international conflict or a
civil war.
During the Aleksovski trial, the prosecution tried to prove
Croatia's involvement in the central Bosnia conflict.
In May, the Trial Chamber sentenced Aleksovski to three years in
prison. On May 7, after announcing a verbal verdict, the Trial
Chamber ordered Aleksovski's immediate release since the time he
had spent in detention was longer than his sentence.
Aleksovski was found guilty, both as an individual and as
commander, of torture of prisoners at Kaonik.
The Trial Chamber also announced that the explanation of the
verdict would be published in writing in June.
The problem of the nature of the conflict in central Bosnia is also
important for the trial of Tihomir Blaskic, the commander of the
Central Bosnia Operative Zone, because he too is charged with
violations of the Geneva Conventions.
That is why the stance of judge Rodriguez in the Aleksovski case
could be an indication of his stand in principal about the violation
of the Geneva Conventions, which could influence the verdict in the
Blaskic case.
(hina) rml