THE HAGUE, Oct 30 (Hina) - The attorneys of Vinko Martinovic alias Stela on Wednesday made their closing arguments before the trial chamber at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague and asked
for an acquittal of their client and the discontinuation of his detention in custody stressing that the prosecution did not manage to prove any point in his indictment.
THE HAGUE, Oct 30 (Hina) - The attorneys of Vinko Martinovic alias
Stela on Wednesday made their closing arguments before the trial
chamber at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague and asked for an acquittal of their
client and the discontinuation of his detention in custody
stressing that the prosecution did not manage to prove any point in
his indictment. #L#
This trial showed the powerlessness of the prosecution to
corroborate its claims, Martinovic's defence attorney Branko Seric
said in his summary.
He tried to refute some claims by the prosecution brought out on
Monday, primarily the command line of responsibility according to
which Martinovic was charged.
Vinko Martinovic was the commander of a small unit that controlled
97 metres of the front line and he had control over his soldiers only
on the front line, Seric said.
After every battle, soldiers would leave and Martinovic in fact did
not have any effective control over them, Seric said. He added that
Martinovic is now being accused of all the crimes committed in
Mostar.
The defence presented evidence, Seric said, that creates
reasonable doubt in the hear-say statements relating to
Martinovic's command.
Martinovic's attorney also attempted to question the credibility
of certain witnesses who were "nationally and religiously
impassioned".
Martinovic's other defence attorney Zelimir Par pointed out that a
certain number of witnessed testified in favour of Martinovic.
They were Muslims from western Mostar who said that their neighbour
Vinko Martinovic saved them from being expelled, Par stressed.
Martinovic's defence attorneys tried to refute claims by the
prosecution that related to the existence of an international
conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The prosecution failed to prove, beyond any doubt, that an
international conflict existed and that in that regard the Geneva
Convention had been violated, Seric explained.
As an individual, Vinko Martinovic acted on behalf of a non-state
entity (The Croatian Community Herceg Bosna) and not on the account
of another country (Croatia) as the prosecution tried to prove,
Seric explained further.
Confusion could have been caused by Croatian officers who
transferred to the Croatian Defence Council units after the war had
ended in Croatia. They were citizens of Bosnia who were born in that
country and who, once the war had been over in Croatia, went to fight
for their homeland, Seric said.
Martinovic is accused, according to command responsibility and his
own personal responsibility, for crimes against humanity, the
serious violation of the Geneva Convention and the violation of the
law and customs of war, committed in 1993 in Mostar. He was then the
commander of a the "Vinko Skrobo" unit which was previously known as
"Mrmak". The prosecution on Monday asked for a 25 year prison
sentence.
He has been in custody in The Hague since August 1999. He is being
tried together with Mladen Naletilic Tuta and the trial began in
September last year.
(hina) sp ms