THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, May 6 (Hina) - Retired Croatian generals Ivan Cermak and Mladen Markac were visited in the Hague tribunal's detention unit on Thursday by their defence attorneys, who presented them with materials necessary for the
preparation of additional interviews with prosecutors.
THE HAGUE/ZAGREB, May 6 (Hina) - Retired Croatian generals Ivan Cermak
and Mladen Markac were visited in the Hague tribunal's detention unit
on Thursday by their defence attorneys, who presented them with
materials necessary for the preparation of additional interviews with
prosecutors.#L#
"We have given our clients supporting materials accompanying the
indictment to study them, because in a week or two we start
preparations for the interviews," Markac's lawyer Goran Mikulicic told
Hina in a telephone interview.
"Generals Markac and Cermak agree to be interviewed by the prosecutors
and interviews are scheduled to take place in the first week of June,"
he added.
Mikulicic said that the two generals were feeling "relatively well",
although Markac's health was not "quite satisfactory" because he was
recovering from last week's surgery.
On Wednesday, the defence lawyers arranged interviews with Chief
Prosecutor Carla del Ponte, after which the Office of the Prosecutor
was expected to change its negative position on the request for the
provisional release of the two generals pending trial.
"Interviews reflect our desire to obtain a positive opinion from the
Office of the Prosecutor on their provisional release," Cermak's
lawyer Cedo Prodanovic said, adding that interviews were not a formal
condition for the request for pre-trial release being granted, but "a
basis that should be honoured by the Trial Chamber".
The defence attorneys declined to comment on last week's decision by
the Trial Chamber to reject the request for provisional release filed
by the two generals.
The Trial Chamber said it was not convinced that Cermak and Markac
would appear at the trial or that they would not pose a danger to
witnesses or victims. It added that the accused's good conduct,
including their voluntary surrender, could change after they were
presented with evidence and after they realised the gravity of the
charges.
The decision cited as a negative example the case of fugitive general
Ante Gotovina, saying that he was still at large despite efforts by
Croatian authorities to arrest him.
"It is a standardised decision, not individualised for any specific
case," said a lawyer from Zagreb who had previously been engaged for
legal representation before the tribunal.
After the interviews, which Prodanovic said might take two or three
days, the defence lawyers will file a request for provisional release,
which will be examined by the Trial Chamber.
Cermak and Markac are charged on the basis of personal and command
responsibility for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in
the general area of Knin during and in the wake of Operation Storm in
the second half of 1995. At the time Cermak was commander of the Knin
Garrison, while Markac commanded a special police unit.
The two generals voluntarily surrendered to the tribunal on March 11
this year. The following day at their initial appearance before the
court, they pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
(Hina) vm