THE HAGUE, April 23 (Hina) - The International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Wednesday, April 17, decided to relieve the conditions of detention for a Croatian Defense Council (HVO) General, Tihomir Blaskic. The
statement from The ICTY in The Hague, received on April 23 reads in whole:
THE HAGUE, April 23 (Hina) - The International Criminal Tribunal
for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on Wednesday, April 17, decided to
relieve the conditions of detention for a Croatian Defense Council
(HVO) General, Tihomir Blaskic. The statement from The ICTY in The
Hague, received on April 23 reads in whole: #L#
"In response to a motion filed by Counsel for General Tihomir
Blaskic on 11 April 1996, requesting a change in the accused's
conditions of detention, Judge Antonio Cassese, president of the
Tribunal, on 17 April 1996. ordered that the defendant's holding
conditions be further modified.
Upholding his previous decision of 3 April 1996 to permit
General Blaskic to be incarcerated, at his own expense, outside of
the Tribunal's Detention Centre, Judge Cassese decided that Blaskic
should be moved from his present place of detention to a more
appropriate place designated by the Registrar in consultation with
the Dutch authorities.
In addition, the following changes have been ordered:
- General Blaskic will be permitted to meet with his wife,
children and lawyer, 'in any (...) place it deemed appropriate by
the Registrar in consultation with the Dutch authorities, and for
such duration as the Registrar considers appropriate in accordance
with the Rules of Detention'. All other visits, including those
with Croatian diplomatic and consular representatives, family and
friends, will continue to take place at the detention centre.
- The Accused will be entitled, once a month, to spend the
night with his wife and children.
- General Blaskic will be allowed to make outgoing phone calls
from his place of detention, subject to Rule 66 of the Rules of
Detention (which provides that the Prosecutor may request the
Registrar to prohibit contact between the accused and any other
person if there are reasonable grounds for believing that the
contact is for the purpose of planning an escape or could prejudice
or otherwise affect the outcome of his case or any other
investigation, or that such contact is harmful for the defendant or
anyone else) and paragraph 6 of the section of the Regulations to
Govern the Supervision of Visits to and Communication with
detainees concerning telephone calls (which provides that telephone
calls may be recorded and/or monitored if the defendant is planning
an escape, to interfere or intimidate witnesses or otherwise
disrupt order at the place of detention).
- General Blaskic will be allowed a television and radio at
his own expense.
The General's conditions of detention are otherwise unaltered.
Specifically, General Blaskic is barred from leaving the
Netherlands, or from leaving his place of residence, except for the
reasons articulated above; he will have no contact with the press;
and all correspondence to or from him shall be addressed to the
Detention Unit. As well as paying for his new accommodation,
General Blaskic will continue to bear the costs of his security
detail.
(hina) lm mm
231926 MET apr 96