<http://www.iht.com/> International Herald Tribune
Five accused of helping Mladic released, but only temporarily The Associated Press Friday, December 22, 2006 BELGRADE, Serbia Five people accused of helping war crimes suspect Ratko Mladic avoid arrest were granted temporary release Friday but ordered not to travel until their trial is completed, authorities said. The five are among 11 men and women accused of helping Mladic hide in Serbia. Belgrade has been under intense Western pressure to capture and extradite Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnia Serb army, who is sought by the Netherlands-based U.N. war crimes court for atrocities during the 1992-95 Bosnian war. Jovo Djogo, Stanko Ristic, Ljiljana Vaskovic, Sasa Badnjar and Blagoje Govedarica left a detention facility after a Belgrade court ruled in favor of their appeal for temporary release, said the court's spokeswoman Aleksandra Nesovic The suspects travel documents will be kept by the authorities until the trial resumes Monday, she added. The five, as well as six others accused of sheltering Mladic between June 2002 and January 2006 in rented apartments in Belgrade, pleaded not guilty. If convicted, they face jail terms of up to eight years. The U.N. charges against Mladic include his alleged responsibility for the 1995 massacre of up to 8,000 Muslims in Srebrenica in eastern Bosnia during the war. The trial of Mladic's alleged aides began in September, as Serbia seeks to convince the EU that it is doing all it can to find the former general and bring him to justice at the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Brussels has suspended pre-entry talks with Serbia until Mladic is found. The same condition was imposed by NATO regarding Serbia's aspirations to join the alliance, but the Balkan country was recently allowed into a NATO outreach program. At a recent hearing in the case of Mladic's alleged aides, a witness said that senior Serbian officials were aware of the fugitive general's whereabouts until mid-2002. U.N. war crimes prosecutors have long maintained that the government in Belgrade harbors Mladic. _____ _____ <http://www.iht.com/> International Herald TribuneCopyright © 2006 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com <http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/22/europe/EU_GEN_Serbia_Mladic_Aides .php> http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/22/europe/EU_GEN_Serbia_Mladic_Aides. php
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