TRIAL OF BOSNIAN CROATS NALETILIC AND MARTINOVIC STARTS ON MONDAY

THE HAGUE, Sept 9 (Hina) - The UN war crimes tribunal at The Hague (ICTY) on Monday commences the trial of two Bosnian Croats - Mladen Naletilic alias Tuta and Vinko Martinovic alias Stela - indicted of war crimes committed in the Mostar area during the Croat-Muslim conflict. The defence teams of Naletilic and Martinovic tried but did not manage to postpone the start of the trial. The two are accused of crimes committed during 1993 by the Convicts' Battalion in the areas of Mostar and Jablanica (southern Bosnia- Herzegovina). Naletilic (aged 54) was the commander of this battalion, while Martinovic (38) was at the helm of a unit called 'Mrmak' which was a part of this battalion. Both are accused of crimes against humanity, serious breaches of the Geneva conventions and of the laws and customs of war. Martinovic arrived in the UN detention centre in this Dutch city on 9 August 1999 and his hand-over passed with no serious problems. On the other hand, the former Croatian authorities stalled over their decision to extradite Naletilic, and ICTY reported Croatia to the UN Security Council owing to Zagreb's unwillingness to cooperate in this case. Eventually, with the change of authorities in Croatia, Naletlic was transferred to The Hague on 21 March 2000. Both indictees pleaded not guilty during their initial appearance before the ICTY. The three-member trial chamber in this process will be chaired by an ICTY permanent judge, Chinese Liu Daqun. Another two members of the chamber are the so-called 'ad litem' judges, Irish Maureen Harding Clark and Fatoumati Diarri from Mali, appointed by the UN General Assembly only for this process. In this case the Tribunal began to apply the Rule 71 of its rule book, which stipulates a possibility that the deposition of witnesses may be taken before the start of the trial. Thus, between 23 July and 3 August, the Prosecution's witnesses gave their testimony. The defendants and their lawyers had the right to attend the taking of the deposition and to cross-examine those witnesses. The witnesses, who gave their testimonies this summer, accused the Convicts' Battalion of harassing and killing its prisoners of war, of forcing them to dig trenches and using them as human shields in battles. Most of these witnesses were detained for several months in Croat-run camps in Ljubuski, Dretelj and Heliodrom near Mostar. Witnesses, Muslims from the Mostar area, asserted that the Muslim- Croat conflict in that region had been instigated by Croat forces that persecuted non-Croats from the area. Several witnesses also claimed that units of the Croatian Army (HV) had been present at the area during the conflict, and such testimonies could be used to support assertions that this conflict assumed an international character. While giving their testimonies, the Prosecution's witnesses identified soldiers who were Naletilic's and Martinovic's inferiors as persons who perpetrated the atrocities. Some witnesses also testified that Martinovic personally abused POWs and other detainees, or was present at the illegal treatment of people captured by his soldiers. Th trial on Monday commences with the introductory speech of the Prosecution. After that, testimonies will be given by 87 witnesses of the Prosecution. They will be followed by the defence teams and their witnesses. (hina) ms