THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, April 28 (Hina) - American neuropsychiatrist Bennet Blum, an expert prosecution witness in the trial of retired Yugoslav Army General Pavle Strugar before the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague, told judges via
video link on Wednesday that the 70-year-old accused was slightly demented but fit to follow the trial.
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, April 28 (Hina) - American neuropsychiatrist Bennet
Blum, an expert prosecution witness in the trial of retired Yugoslav
Army General Pavle Strugar before the UN war crimes tribunal in The
Hague, told judges via video link on Wednesday that the 70-year-old
accused was slightly demented but fit to follow the trial.#L#
Defence attorneys Vladimir Petrovic from Belgrade and Goran Radic from
Podgorica have been claiming from the start of the trial on December
12, 2003 that their client is not fit to follow the proceedings owing
to dementia and post-traumatic stress disorder, which they
corroborated with the results of medical examinations.
Asked by Petrovic if the accused could follow the trial "like a
healthy person", the expert witness said that he could "in principle",
that he understood the indictment and the nature of the trial and that
he was fit to communicate, follow witness testimonies and give
evidence himself.
The Trial Chamber, presided over by Judge Kevin Parker of Australia,
will decide at a later date on whether Strugar is capable of following
the trial.
Strugar commanded the Yugoslav Army Second Operations Group that
shelled the historical part of Dubrovnik on December 6, 1991.
(Hina) vm