PROSECUTOR DELIGHTED WITH VOLUNTARY SURRENDER OF BOSNIAN CROATS

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