HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- U.N. court to hand back some war crimes suspects for trials in
former
Yugoslavia (EXCERPT) Mon Apr 29, 1:00 PM ET, by MISHA SAVIC, Associated Press Writer THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Faced with a dramatically increasing case load, the U.N. war crimes tribunal may return less prominent suspects to their own countries for trial, a court spokesman said Monday. The judges of the tribunal met last week to discuss how to wind up the court's work by 2008, as demanded by the United States. With 11 cases already on its docket, five suspects are expected to surrender in coming weeks. In addition, after Serbia enacted a law facilitating extradition to The Hague (news - web sites), more of the remaining 24 indicted fugitives are likely to end up before the court in the near future. Among the most wanted men are wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and his top army officer, Ratko Mladic. Prosecutors also are drawing up more indictments, including some against ethnic Albanians in connection with the 1998-1999 Kosovo war. There are 41 suspects in the U.N. detention unit and another eight have been temporarily released ahead of their trials. Tribunal spokesman Jim Landale said the court wants to focus on high-profile cases, and to let national courts try lower level perpetrators. "The judges have been looking at the possibility of referring some cases to courts in the former Yugoslavia," he said. He declined to specify how many or which cases may be referred, but said "it could months if not years," before this takes place. Earlier this year, Pierre-Richard Prosper, the U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, said the U.S. administration wanted the Yugoslav and Rwanda tribunals to finish their work by 2007-2008. He later assured chief U.N. prosecutor Carla Del Ponte that Washington would continue to support the tribunal until its work is completed. The tribunal judges decided cases may be referred to courts in Bosnia, Croatia and Yugoslavia once the tribunal is assured they would get a fair trial, Landale said. The report said it would be difficult to meet the 2008 target if authorities withhold evidence and prevent full access to state archives. Authorities in the former warring states have all pledged to help the Hague court, and possibly to try some suspects. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020429/ap_wo_en_ge/war_crimes_yugoslavia_16 --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================ |
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