CROATIAN PRESIDENT GRANTS PARDON FOR 47 SERBS

ZAGREB, May 15 (Hina) - Croatian President Franjo Tudjman has decided to grant a pardon for 47 persons against whom proceedings had been instituted by military courts in Zagreb and Bjelovar on charges of armed rebellion. They became accessible to Croatian authorities after the recent liberation of the Western Slavonia region. The courts found that they had not committed war crimes, a Presidential Office statement said. The Ministry of Justice has said in a statement that on May 13 the investigative judge of the Bjelovar military court ordered a release from custody of Stevo Harambasic, former commander of the 51st brigade of Serb paramilitary forces, who had surrendered together with his unit to Croatian police during the liberation of Western Slavonia. Harambasic was released and would stand trial later on, the statement said. (hina) jn vm 152043 MET may 95