THE HAGUE, July 28 (Hina) - The Hague-based Tribunal's prosecution on Wednesday asked the Trial Chamber to sentence Bosnian Croat General Tihomir Blaskic to life imprisonment for crimes committed in the Lasva river valley, central
Bosnia, during the Croat-Moslem conflict in 1993.
THE HAGUE, July 28 (Hina) - The Hague-based Tribunal's prosecution
on Wednesday asked the Trial Chamber to sentence Bosnian Croat
General Tihomir Blaskic to life imprisonment for crimes committed
in the Lasva river valley, central Bosnia, during the Croat-Moslem
conflict in 1993. #L#
What he left in his wake was death and destruction, all this was for
a political goal of Bosnian Croats to have their national state,
Prosecutor Gregory Kehoe said in his closing speech.
Blaskic had many opportunities to do something and prevent crimes,
launch investigations in them and punish perpetrators, but he
failed to do so, Kehoe said.
"Why?" wondered this American lawyer offering the answer that it
was because Blaskic was a party to a plan drawn up by the Bosnian
Croat political leadership to eradicate the Moslem population from
central Bosnia. That was his job and he did it well, Kehoe claimed.
The trial of Gen. Blaskic before the International War Crimes
Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) entered its last week after
it had already taken two years and one month.
The prosecution charged Blaskic with crimes against humanity,
violations of the laws and customs of war and breaches of the Geneva
conventions in the Croat-Moslem war from May 1992 to January 1994.
Prosecutors believe that Blaskic should be held accountable for
planning, committing and being involved in crimes, as well as for
his failure, as a commander, to prevent crimes, investigate them
and punish perpetrators.
As the time has been running, their case has fallen to pieces under
the burden of evidence introduced in the meantime, said Blaskic's
defence attorney, Rusell Hayman, at the beginning of his closing
speech on Wednesday. In the coming two days, Hayman and the other
defence lawyer, Anto Nobilo, will sum up arguments for releasing
their client.
The centre of an image which the prosecution offered to the Trial
Chamber in the past three days, lies on a plan of Croatia's
President to annex parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina. According to the
prosecution, Blaskic was an instrument (of that plan) to clean
ethnically central Bosnia of Moslems in order that such an
ethnically pure area might be annexed to Croatia.
Croatia was an occupying force through its direct political and
military interference and indirectly via "agents", namely the
Croatian Defence Council "HVO", the prosecution's team said adding
that Croatia's involvement gave an international character to the
conflict. The path of accomplishing those dangerous ambitions was
strewn by crimes in the Lasva river valley, crimes which Blaskic
planned, knew about, but did not try to prevent them neither did he
punish perpetrators, the prosecution added.
Citing descriptions and scenes of attacks against civilian
targets, setting villages on fire, the apprehension of civilians,
exploiting them as human shields, forcing prisoners to dig
trenches, prosecutors brought, during the last two days, Blaskic's
several-month-long testimony's credibility in question. Blaskic
had said he had not known of many events.
His testimony has not been actually true, prosecutors insisted.
Although Blaskic claimed in his testimony that he had not had full
control and disciplinary authority over his troops, evidence and
statements of witnesses showed something contrary, prosecutors
said.
His orders to relieve commanders of duty and disciplinary measures
show that Blaskic had authority and used it. But he never prosecuted
any of his subordinates for serious breaches of humanitarian law.
Thus, Blaskic actually stimulated his forces to commit criminal
acts, the prosecution claimed.
The Trial Chamber consisting of three judges Claude Jorda, Mohamed
Shahabuddeen and Almiro Rodrigues will make a ruling whether
Blaskic is innocent or guilty after they again study statements of
over 150 witnesses and read thousands of pages of the material
evidence introduced in the procedure since June 24, 1997. when this
trial against a former commander of the HVO Central Bosnia
Operative Zone commenced.
Blaskic, aged 38, surrendered voluntarily to the ICTY on April 1,
1996.
(hina) ms