THE HAGUE, Oct 6 (Hina) - The Prosecutor of the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Louise Arbour,
expressed great satisfaction with the voluntary surrender of ten
Bosnian Croats to the Tribunal on Monday.
"The Prosecutor is delighted at the news that ten indicted
accused have surrendered themselves voluntarily to the jurisdiction
of this Tribunal," the Tribunal said in a statement.
"Whilst the Prosecutor's Office has not been involved in any
negotiations or discussions which led to the surrender today, we are
nevertheless grateful to all those who have been involved in the
events which have resulted in this significant development," it
added.
Noting "various comments and statements in the media over
recent days," which suggested that the Prosecutor's Office might
initiate proceedings within a period of three to five months, the
Prosecutor said she had indeed indicated to the lawyers for the six
accused included in the Kupreskic indictment that she would be "in a
position to proceed to trial within three to five months", but that
it was a matter of the judges of the Tribunal to set the dates for
the trial and that the Tribunal's calendar of other matters should
also be taken into account.
The Prosecutor has also explained this position to the lawyers
for Dario Kordic and other accused who have surrendered today. No
indications have been given by the Prosecutor as to whether the
Prosecutor's Office will be ready to proceed to trial within the
same period of time, the statement said.
In light of the fact that it was a voluntary surrender and
taking into account the support of the United States in efforts to
strengthen the Tribunal's resources to facilitate speedy trials, the
Prosecutor's Office "is considering all matters and all
possibilities in bringing these matters to trial at the earliest
possible opportunity."
Stressing the role the of the Croatian authorities in securing
the voluntary surrender of the ten accused Bosnian Croats, the
Prosecutor called on the Bosnian Serb and Yugoslav authorities to
play a similar role in assuring the surrender to the Tribunal of
indicted accused on their territory.
"In particular the Prosecutor calls upon the FRY authorities
to surrender the three JNA officers who are currently residing on
FRY territory and who stand jointly charged with (Slavko)
Dokmanovic, who is currently in custody in The Hague.
"Similarly, the Prosecutor calls upon the Bosnian Serb
authorities to surrender indicted accused, including Radovan
Karadzic and Ratko Mladic," the statement said.
(hina) vm
061946 MET oct 97
Najava događaja - sport - za ponedjeljak, 24. veljače
SKV: Svijet u 15,30 sati
SP, biatlon: Elviri Oeberg zlato u utrci sa zajedničkim startom
Zrinka Ljutić: Sretna sam zbog još jednog postolja
SKV: Hrvatska u 15,30 sati
Kremlj smatra obećavajućim dijalog Trumpa i Putina
Županjom u pokladnom jahanju projahalo gotovo 100 konajnika
Slovak pod utjecajem droge neispravnim vozilom na A3 jurio 207 kilometara na sat
Como "srušio" Napoli
Splitski HDZ: Uklanjanje štandarca barbarski je čin