VOLUNTEERS AND HVO VETERANS SCHOCKED BY ICTY SENTENCE

ZAGREB/POSUŠJE, Dec 11 (Hina) - The Association of Volunteers and Veterans of the Homeland War of the Croatian Defence Council of Herceg-Bosna (Croatian component of Bosnia-Herzegovina's army). expressed their bitterness against a sentence passed by the International Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). On Thursday, the ICTY sentenced a Bosnian Croat, Ante Furnudzija to 10 years imprisonment. HVO veterans and volunteers "bitterly protest against the injustices of the Hague tribunal". The ICTY pronounced Furundzija guilty on the foundation of accusations that as the commander of a HVO unit known as the "Jokers", in May 1993 he interrogated a Bosnian Muslim woman whom another HVO soldier abused and raped while Furundzija did not take any action to prevent the crime. "This type of unjust sentence is being experienced as the continuation of ethnic cleansing of Croats from the region of Bosnia-Herzegovina which was conducted by the aggressor yet no-one has been charged or tried", noted a statement on Friday, by the Association. HVO volunteers and veterans appeal to the international community to prevent the continuing pressure placed on the Croatian people in Bosnia. It expects the tribunal in the Hague to be independent and just in passing its sentences in an effort to contribute to the establishment of lasting and stable peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina, said the statement. (hina) sp