HAGUE TRIBUNAL REJECTS MOTION BY BLASKIC DEFENCE

THE HAGUE, Sept 3 (Hina) - The international war crimes tribunal in The Hague has rejected a request by the defence of General Tihomir Blaskic to preclude testimony of certain prosecution witnesses, the tribunal said in a statement on Wednesday. At the same time, the tribunal ordered the prosecutor to inform the defence in advance which witnesses would be called to the tribunal. On June 25, the defence filed a motion requesting exclusion of certain witnesses because they claimed the prosecutor had violated a decision by the Trial Chamber of January 27 that "all the previous statements which appear in the Prosecutor's file be disclosed to the Defence immediately." The prosecutor responded to the motion on July 16 and 18, after which the Trial Chamber held a closed session on July 28. The Trial Chamber examined the motion to determine whether the requested documents could be considered as "prior statements." It rejected a part of the motion relating to the communication of maps, personal diaries and a radio log. The Trial Chamber ordered the prosecutor to communicate the list of witnesses to be called to the Defence, within a minimum of two working days before their calling. (hina) vm 031943 MET sep 97