SUPREME COURT REFUSES APPEAL AGAINST MARTINOVIC'S HAND-OVER

ZAGREB, July 12 (Hina) - The Croatian Supreme Court on Monday refused an appeal by Deputy County State Attorney Marija Jambor, who requested that Vinko Martinovic-Stela not be handed over to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Jambor told Hina in a phone conversation she had requested that Martinovic not be handed over until the completion of two court cases involving Martinovic, which are being conducted by the Zagreb County Court. Jambor reiterated that the appeal did not refer to the fact whether Martinovic should be handed over or not but rather that it be postponed until the two cases were completed. In the first court case, Martinovic, together with Dragan Raspudic- Guja, had been charged with murder for gain of Jasmina Djukic, in March 1996, in Mostar. The court sentenced Martinovic to eight years in prison, and his attorney filed an appeal against the verdict. The appeals proceedings are still underway. In March 1999, an indictment was issued against Martinovic charging him with the attempted murder of Zdravko Culjak in Mostar in 1996, but no hearing has been scheduled yet. The Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) charges Martinovic with crimes against humanity, severe violations of the Geneva Convention and violation of the law or customs of war in the campaign of ethnic cleansing against Bosnian Muslims in areas controlled by the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) during 1993. (hina) rml