Jadranko Prlic, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoj Petkovic and Bruno Stojic are accused of participating in a “joint criminal enterprise” to “politically and militarily subjugate, permanently remove and ethnically cleanse Bosniaks and other non-Croats" from an area declared the Community/Republic of Herceg-Bosna.

Six leaders of the so-called Croatian Community of Herceg-Bosna surrendered voluntarily to the Tribunal today. Tomorrow they will enter their pleas on all 26 counts of the indictment, which charges them with the persecution of Bosniaks, murders, detention, deportation and other crimes committed in their areas of responsibility.

Six former military and political leaders of the HVO and Herceg-Bosna pleaded not guilty today to all 26 counts of their indictment. Prlic: "I was not a warlord as I am being painted in the indictment.”

The defence seeks provisional release of six former Herceg-Bosna leaders, stating that all the requirements have been met. The prosecution opposes the motions, considering that there is a danger that the accused would not return to the Detention Unit and that they would try to interfere with the witnesses and victims

The judges in the Prlic et al. case should render two decisions shortly: one about the provisional release and the other, about whether there is a possible conflict of interest between the accused represented by the same lawyers. The prosecutor believes that there might be conflict of interest, while the accused and their defence counsel deny it

The prosecution motion seeking leave to appeal the decision on provisional release of Prlic et. al. dismissed – Preparations underway for their release

The defense counsel for the five accused and Slobodan Praljak, the sixth accused who represented himself at the status conference today for the first time, refuse to accept "the adjudicated facts" the prosecutor offered them. Jadranko Prlic's defense counsel believes the forthcoming trial will in fact be "a trial in absentia of Franjo Tudjman, Gojko Susak, Janko Bobetko" and other top officials in the Republic of Croatia

Slobodan Praljak notifies the Tribunal that he will be defending himself at the forthcoming trial of the six political and military leaders of the so-called Herceg-Bosna, because he has "no money to pay for the lawyers and they don't want to work for free"

"Guardian" reporter, testifying before the ICTY for the sixth time, describes how he covered the break-up of the Croat-Muslim alliance in Herceg Bosna

As Ed Vulliamy testified, the condition of the detainees in Dretelj when he visited the camp near Capljina in September 1993 was the result "of extreme neglect in terms of food, dehydration and hygiene…" There were civilians, but also former HVO members, among the detainees. Those Muslims, the witness said, "had fought in the organization which now kept them in detention"

At the beginning of his testimony at the trial of former Bosnian Croat leaders, Josip Manolic said he parted ways with former Croatian president Tudjman because of his BH policy. As his testimony continues, he described as “nothing but empty talk and expression of various wishes” Tudjman’s obsession with the restoration of the Croatian Banovina and with the “realistic borders” meant to “make the Croatian croissant thicker”

The biggest mistake in Tudjman’s BH policy, Josip Manolic said as his testimony continued at the trial of the six former Bosnian Croat leaders, was the creation of the “state within the state” or “banana republic” in the Balkans

Josip Manolic was today cross-examined by the accused Slobodan Praljak and the defense counsel for five other leaders of the former Herceg Bosna. According to Praljak, Manolic was the former “Tudjman’s closest associate and number two person in the Croatian state”

Michael Karnavas, Prlic’s defense counsel, went furthest in his attempt to discredit Josip Manolic, testifying as a prosecution witness. He intimated that Manolic, as the person in charge of all the prisons in Croatia in the fifties was responsible for the alleged poisoning of Cardinal Stepinac

As the trial of the six former Herceg Bosna leaders continues, a new protected witness testifies about the events in Stolac at the beginning of the BH Army-HVO conflict. Presiding Judge Antonetti wishes everyone “good health” and a “calm approach to the trial” in the new year

The conflicts that took place between the Croatian Defense Council (HVO) and BH Army by the end of April 1993 could be considered a "bearable misfortune of war conditions" had a political solution for Bosnia-Herzegovina been found by that date, the accused Slobodan Praljak says during a cross examination of the protected prosecution witness from Stolac

Prosecution witness claims she and her family were fed dog food in the Heliodrom camp, where they were taken from Western Mostar by the HVO. The accused Slobodan Praljak believes that this could only have been food from humanitarian relief supplies because, as he says, dog food was “not made” in the former Yugoslavia

The defense teams of the six former Herceg Bosna leaders contest the adjudicated facts in the judgment in the Mladen Naletilic and Vinko Martinovic case about “a well designed and prepared attack” the HVO launched on Mostar on 9 May 1993. If they had more time to cross-examine the prosecution witness, the defense counsel would be able to prove otherwise, they say

Witness CU, testifying at the trial of six former Herceg Bosna officials, accuses the HVO of launching the attack on Mostar on 9 May 1993 and subjecting detainees to physical abuse in prisons in Mostar, Siroki Brijeg, Ljubuski, Heliodrom and Dretelj

BBC reporter Jeremy Bowen is testifying at the trial of the six former Herceg Bosna leaders. In the fall of 1993, he made Unfinished Business, a documentary about East Mostar. At that time, about 60,000 people faced the choice: to fight or to die

Unfinished Business, a documentary made by British journalist Jeremy Bowen is “pro-Muslim”, the defense of the six Herceg Bosna leaders on trial claims. “I did not want to show the good guys or the bad guys,” Bowen says, but to show how 60,000 people in East Mostar lived. “There was no need to fabricate anything,” he adds

The trial of former Herceg Bosna leaders continues with the evidence of a protected prosecution witness. In late June 1993, he survived the execution en route to Dretelj. The witness lays the blame for the incident in which his grandfather was killed and he himself seriously wounded on the Croatian Defense Council military police. He also blames them for the abuse and torture

The prosecution continues its case at the trial of six former Herceg Bosna leaders with the evidence of victims of “sniper war” in Mostar during the Croatian-Muslim conflict. The prosecution will then call an expert witness to give his expert opinion on twelve sniper incidents

Victims of sniper attacks in Mostar had to take off their clothes and shoes to show their scars to the judges, the defense counsel and the accused. In some cases they had to do it again because the defense was not satisfied the first time

Dutch colonel Patrick Van der Weijden who wrote the expert report on twelve sniper incidents takes the stand at the trial of six former Herceg Bosna officials. He confirms the prosecution allegations and witness testimony on the possible existence of sniper nests in several locations. The defense counsel claim the witness is not competent for the task he was given.

Belkisa Berisha took the stand at the trial of six former Herceg Bosnia leaders today. Her son, was killed on 2 February 1993. He was nine years old. He was hit in the back by a sniper bullet which came, according to the witness, from the HVO positions at Stotina

At the trial of six former Herceg Bosna leaders, the prosecution continues its case by calling evidence related to the destruction of the Old Bridge. Witness Miro Salcin claims he saw with his own eyes a tank firing rounds at the Old Bridge from the Cekrk hill at Hum, where the HVO had its positions. The accused Slobodan Praljak countered his claims, saying that the BH Army destroyed the bridge with explosives

The defense counsel of the former Herceg Bosna leaders claim that the HVO did not have any motive to destroy the bridges in Mostar. The prosecution witness and the accused did not agree on the issue and at times their verbal skirmishes threatened to turn into a war of words. The judges tried to calm them down, reminding the parties that the times of war were long past

After he concluded yesterday that "fortunately" he was not on Seselj's list of "unwanted judges", Jean-Claude Antonetti, as the presiding judge in the trial of former Bosnian Croat officials, faced a new challenge today. The defense in that case demand that he apply the same procedure to this trial as is applied in other trials, or "to consider his own disqualification" in this case

After Judge Antonetti's comments last week that “90 to 95 percent of the judges’ questions favor the defense”, the two other members of the Trial Chamber distanced themselves from the presiding judge. The prosecutor for his part said that he was so embarrassed when he heard the remark that he wanted “to disappear“from the courtroom

Ferida Likic testifies at the trial of six former Herceg Bosna officials. After describing how the HVO soldiers killed her husband, she went on to describe how she managed to escape from a house already on fire. She was forced into the house together with twelve other women and children on 23 October 1993 in Stupni Do

Three days after the massacre in Stupni Do, an UNPROFOR investigation team entered the village. The reek of burned human flesh could still be felt in the air, a smell like no other. Former Canadian warrant officer was the team leader. Now he is giving evidence in court, corroborated by video tape recordings and on-site photographs

Nelson Draper, Canadian warrant officer who investigated the Stupni Do massacre continued his evidence today. In the cross-examination, the defense denied that the accused were responsible for this crime and repeated the concerns over “the fairness of the procedure”. The prosecution raised the issue of the right of the accused to cross-examine witnesses

As the trial of six former Herceg Bosna officials continues, former US diplomat Herbert Okun takes the stand. Okun was UN deputy special envoy to the Balkans in the early 1990s. One of the plans for the division of Bosnia Herzegovina envisaged a territory for the Bosnian Muslims that looked like a stain on a map

As Bill Clinton was being sworn in at the beginning of his second term in office on 20 January 1993, US diplomat Herbert Okun was in Geneva, in the middle of negotiations about the Vance-Owen plan. He wrote down in his notebook “Clinton, be smart”

Jadranko Prlic’s US attorney today stressed the fact that the BH Croats were the first to accept the Vance-Owen peace plan, drawing from it the conclusion that their policy was peaceful, unlike that of the “Muslim government” in Sarajevo. Ambassador Herbert Okun then reminded him of the English proverb, “actions speak louder than words”

American diplomat Herbert Okun found himself in a curious situation at the trial of former Bosnian Croat leaders: he had to defend the late Croatian president after the accused Slobodan Praljak called Tudjman a “fool” and a “sly man”

Jadranko Prlic believes that he and five former Herceg Bosna leaders “have already been judged”. The prosecution warns the court that in accordance with a previous decision of the Trial Chamber, the accused may question the witnesses only in exceptional circumstances

As the trial of Bosnian Croat leaders continues, the court hears testimony of a former member of the Spanish contingent in the UN peace-keeping force stationed in Mostar at the time. He blames the HVO for the death of Lieutenant Muñoz Castellanos in June 1993

A member of the Spanish Battalion in the UN peace-keeping force testifies about the Croat-Muslim conflict in Mostar at the trial of former Bosnian Croat leaders. One of the questions for him was: is a hospital surrounded by enemy mortar positions a legitimate target?

Miroslav Rupcic used to be Boban's courier. Today he continued his testimony at the trial of former Bosnian Croat leaders. Mate Boban was ‘big shot’, he said. All the other Herceg Bosna officials were merely ‘small fry’

Ray Lane, former head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Siroki Brijeg, Mostar, Gornji Vakuf and Prozor testifies at the trial of former Bosnian Croat leaders. He contends that Jadranko Prlic was second only to Mate Boban, the first man of Herceg Bosna

Irish officer Ray Lane continues his evidence at the trial of former Herceg Bosna leaders. His testimony turned turbulent after Jadranko Prlic’s attorney added a bit of ‘twisted humor’ in his cross-examination.

In the cross-examination of Andrew Pringle, prosecution military expert, accused Slobodan Praljak argued that ‘what is written on paper’ does not reflect the actual situation in the field, and that high-ranking HVO officers were not able to control their subordinate officers and troops. The witness agreed that ‘life was tough’, noting, however, that it was the duty of every commander to make sure his orders were obeyed

Berislav Pusic was always opposed to ‘all for all’ exchanges, favoring ‘one for one’ exchanges, said Amor Masovic, head of BH Institute for Missing Persons. This meant that ‘we would set free HVO soldiers, and they’d release captured civilians’, he went on to say

At the trial of former Herceg Bosna leaders, prosecution witness Amor Masovic describes his meetings with the accused Berislav Pusic. The fate of the thirteen BH Army soldiers captured by the HVO in the attack on the 4th Corps HQ in Vranica in Mostar on 10 May 1993 was discussed at those meetings

Vice-president of the Slovenian Constitutional Court is testifying at the trial of former Bosnian Croat leaders. Today, he repeated his view that Herceg Bosna emerged as a result of Croatia’s territorial aspirations in BH. The defense announces its intention to move for the witness’s expert report to be stricken off the record because it is ’incomplete and outdated’

As the trial of former Herceg Bosna leaders continues, Husnija Mahmutovic from Stupni Do gives his evidence. On 23 October 1993, his father and brother were killed in the HVO attack on the village. A total of 38 persons were killed in that incident. Most of victims were burned in their houses or on a haystack

A protected witness testifies for the prosecution at the trial of former Herceg Bosna leaders, describing the conditions in the HVO prisoner camps in Vitina, in the village of Vrda and in Heliodrom. Prisoners were taken to do forced labor and were used as living shields, he says. He was shot in the foot because he didn’t know who organized the escape of prisoners from Vrda

Jadranko Prlic’s American lawyer gets a seven-day speaking ban after insulting a witness and one of the judges of the Trial Chamber hearing the case of six former Herceg Bosna leaders

According to Cedric Thornberry, former head of the Civil Affairs in the UN mission in BH, in August 1993 the situation in East Mostar was worse than anything he had seen in the former Yugoslavia – with the exception of Vukovar. In his opinion, Croats wanted their slice of BH and saw Mostar as the heart of their state

At the trial of former Herceg Bosna leaders, the court heard testimony of a former BH Army soldier Kemal Likic. He testified about the HVO attack on Stupni Do on 23 October 1993. His son was killed in the attack. He found his son’s remains on a heap of burned planks some 15 meters from his family house. Several charred bodies were found inside his house

The prosecution ended its case at the trial of former Bosnian Croat leaders. Rule 98 bis hearings are scheduled for next week. In their oral motions under this rule, the defense teams are expected to ask for the acquittal of their clients on counts that they contend the prosecution has failed to prove

According to Valentin Coric’s defense, the former head of the HVO Military Police should be acquitted; the prosecutor has failed to prove the allegations in the indictment

Berislav Pusic’s defense contends the prosecution has failed to prove all counts in the indictment. According to Pusic’s counsel, the concept of ‘joint criminal enterprise’ – all former Herceg Bosna leaders are charged with taking part in it – is a ‘mystery’ understood only by the prosecutor

Last week, the defense of the accused former Herceg Bosna leaders argued that the prosecution had failed to prove their responsibility for the crimes they are charged with. In his reply to the defense, the prosecutor quoted at length from President Tudjman’s transcripts. The quotes showed that the operation aimed at establishing a Greater Croatia whose borders would correspond to those of the former Banovina ‘was run both from Zagreb and from Mostar’, the prosecutor contended

As the prosecution brings its argument at the trial of former Herceg Bosna leaders to a close, prosecutor Scott quoted from an HVO military police document. At the height of the conflict in Mostar, the military police reports that on that day ‘no crimes were notified, just the ethnic cleansing of the Muslims’

The Trial Chamber hearing the case of six former Herceg Bosna leaders dismissed all motions for partial or full acquittal of the accused. Their defense teams will have a case to answer in their cases

On the first day of the defense case at the trial of the former Herceg Bosna leaders today, the first accused Jadranko Prlic delivered his statement. He denied all the accusations, saying he sympathized with all the war victims. He himself was a war victim, he said

Miomir Zuzul, former Croatian foreign minister, continues his evidence at the trial of former Herceg Bosna leaders. In the spring of 1993, Alija Izetbegovic offered Franjo Tudjman, Zuzul described, that Croatia annex Western Herzegovina

Rejecting the claims made by prosecution witness that Muslim refugees were ‘treated badly’ in Croatian refugee camps in 1993, Damir Zoric, testifying in Prlic’s defense, explained today that Croatian refugees from BH were actually ‘treated badly’ by Muslim fighters who would come to the centers to visit their families for the weekend

In his cross-examination by the prosecution, Jadranko Prlic’s defense witness says the late Croatian president Franjo Tudjman was not obsessed with the division of BH and its annexation to Croatia despite what Drazen Budisa was saying during the Croat-Muslim conflict in BH. At that time, the witness was in Budisa’s party

Adalbert Rebic, former head of the Croatian Government Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees testifying in the defense of Jadranko Prlic, former Herceg Bosna prime minister, believes the accusations levied against the former Croatian leadership of ethnic cleansing of the Muslims from BH are ‘the greatest set-up for the Croatian nation’

Zdravko Sancevic, Croatian ambassador to Venezuela, is testifying in the defense of Jadranko Prlic, former Herceg Bosna prime minister. Sancevic says the Croat-Muslim conflict in BH in 1993 should be regarded as a conflict of extremist Croat and Muslim groups and not as a conflict of all Croats and all Muslims

Mile Akmadzic, the prime minister in a wartime BH government, accuses its foreign minister Haris Silajdzic of abuse of office during the negotiations about the Vance-Owen plan in early 1993. Silajdzic used his personal ’sentimental relationship’ in a US senator’s office to present Muslim interests as the interests of all three constituent peoples

Mile Akmadzic, prime minister in the BH wartime government, continues his evidence at the trial of former Bosnian Croat leaders. In his words, Alija Izetbegovic acted as head of state and not as the first among the equals. In December 1992, Izetbegovic for all intents and purposes usurped power, setting aside the interests of the other two constituent peoples in BH. Croats ‘endured this only because they wanted to keep BH alive in any form’

Prime minister in the wartime BH government Mile Akmadzic accused Izetbegovic and the BH Army of ’aggression’ against the Croat population in the Travnik area in April 1993 and in other places in Central Bosnia; the goal was to get hold of the defense industry plants there

Continuing his evidence at the trial of the former Herceg Bosna leaders, Mile Akmadzic describes Fikret Abdic as a man ‘loved by all’ in his home region. He was a man who opposed the ‘islamization of BH”, Akmadzic said. In his cross-examination, the prosecutor wants to know why the witness claimed Alija Izetbegovic was ‘good’ when he testified at the Dario Kordic trial, whereas now he characterizes Izetbegovic as ‘bad’

Former BH finance minister, Zarko Primorac, testifies in defense of Jadranko Prlic, recounting how an attempt of the BH government to bring the first batch of BH dinars to besieged Sarajevo in the second half of 1992 failed

In the first part of the cross-examination, the prosecution challenged the argument put forward by General Slobodan Praljak’s defense through the testimony of his expert witness. According to Praljak's defense, the Old Bridge in Mostar was 'most likely' destroyed when the explosives rigged on the bridge blew up, not when it was hit by a shell fired from a HVO tank

The cross-examination of Professor Slobodan Jankovic continued, with Jankovic maintaining there was a high likelihood that the Old Bridge in Mostar was destroyed by an explosive charge rigged to it. However, after watching the recording showed by the prosecution, he was five percent less convinced of that. In his view, there were actually two detonations at the base of the bridge. The first one failed and the other was not recorded

In his evidence in the defense of Jadranko Prlic, Zoran Buntic, a lawyer from Citluk, contends that all the bodies of the Croatian Community of Herceg Bosna –later to become the Croatian Republic of Herceg Bosna – operated within the legal framework of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Zoran Buntic, lawyer from Citluk, is giving evidence in the defense of Jadranko Prlic. He claims that Herceg Bosna was not conceived as a state and there were no aspirations for it to gain this status. It was created solely as a form of defense against the Serb aggression

Zoran Buntic, former chief of the Justice and Self-government Department of Herceg Bosna, claims the former JNA infiltrated counter-intelligence agents into the very top of the BH Army with the task of causing the conflict between Croats and Muslims. To corroborate his argument the witness offered a piece of evidence he had brought in a bag

Newly appointed judges in Herceg Bosna had to take an oath of office before the HZ HB president Mate Boban, but the final invocation depended on their religious beliefs. According to the witness, atheists ‘could skip’ the conclusion ‘so help me God’ if they wanted to, while Muslims could say instead ‘so help me Allah’

Miomir Zuzul, Croatian former foreign minister, continued his evidence accusing the Muslim leadership of a ‘double game’ and obstruction of all peace negotiation as they went on by principle ‘nothing is agreed until everything is agreed’

In his cross-examination, Miomir Zuzul, testifying as Jadranko Prlic’s defense witness, agreed with the prosecutor only about the fact that he was a supporter of the policy pursued by former Croatian president Franjo Tudjman until the very end. In other words he was ‘a president’s man’

The defense of Jadranko Prlic continues its case with the evidence of Martin Raguz, member of BH parliament. The witness confirms the defense argument that the government in Sarajevo wanted a unitary BH and that BH Croats were ’forced’ to get organized, and goes on to say that women and children were used for political ends in Sarajevo under siege

As he continues his testimony as Jadranko Prlic's defense witness, Martin Raguz says the transfer of Croats from Central Bosnia to Herzegovina was a matter of life and death and not a case of ‘reverse ethnic cleansing’. The prosecution sees this as an action aimed at creating Croatian majority in municipalities in Herzegovina where Muslims were expelled. The coordinated transfer of population, Raguz said, was an example of memorable solidarity

Martin Raguz, member of the BH parliament, describes the conditions in the notorious camps Dretelj and Gabela in Capljina during the Croatian-Muslim conflict in 1993 as ‘complex circumstances’

According to Borislav Puljic, member of the Crisis Staff in the Mostar municipality during the war, now testifying as Jadranko Prlic’s defense witness, the 'croatization' of the territory under its control was never among HVO’s objectives

When the JNA shelled Mostar, it was 'urbicide'. However, when the HVO did the same, it was a 'consequence of the conflict', Borislav Puljic says. Puljic, who claims he is 'not an extremist' testifies in the defense of Jadranko Prlic, former Herceg Bosna prime minister

Ilija Kozulj, former Herceg Bosna transport minister, claims that the founding of public companies in Herceg Bosna was not motivated by the desire to strip BH of some functions and to build ‘a state within a state’ in the BH territory. Jadranko Prlic’s defense presented Kozulj as an excellent engineer with a reputation of a ‘pre-war commie’

Miroslav Palameta, university professor from Mostar and former deputy minister of education in Herceg Bosna, is testifying at the trial of former Bosnian Croat leaders. Today he explained why ‘Serbo-Croatian’ became just ‘Croatian’ and why Croats renounced their heroes like Franjo Kluz and the Ribar brothers

Mirko Zelenika, former president of the Jablanica municipal board, testifies in the defense of the former Herceg Bosna prime minister Jadranko Prlic. From September 1993 to March 1994, Zelenika was imprisoned in a BH Army camp. He described the situation in Jablanica at the time as ’not quite happy’: at one point the refugees outnumbered the locals

According to former president of the Jablanica municipal board Mirko Zelenika, the BH Army was the main culprit for the outbreak of the Croat-Muslim conflict in that area, not the HVO as alleged in the indictment. Zelenika accused Alija Izetbegovic, former president of the BH presidency, of cutting off Croats’ power supply

According to the defense of Milivoje Petkovic, former chief of the HVO Main Staff, the question who attacked whom in Jablanica and Konjic is the key issue in the case against the accused Herceg Bosna leaders. Petkovic’s defense claims that the BH Army attacks against Croat villages there started a wave of violence in Herzegovina and Central Bosnia

In his cross-examination Mirko Zelenika, testifying in Jadranko Prlic’s defense, agreed with the prosecutor that Muslims were also held in the BH Army prison in the Jablanica museum in 1993. However, Zelenika contends, they did not have the same status because ‘Muslims were refugees and Croats prisoners’

Marinko Simunovic, former president of the Mostar Red Cross, could not remember a single case of abuse of Muslim population in the western part of the town during the conflict between the HVO and the BH Army. As Simunovic put it, his memory is limited by his mandate

In his evidence as defense witness of the former prime minister Jadranko Prlic, Neven Tomic, former Herceg Bosna finance minister, has accused the ‘Muslim leadership in Sarajevo’ of obstructing peace agreements in BH

Former Herceg Bosna finance minister Neven Tomic contends that Bosniaks’ insistence on a ‘centralized state’ has pushed Croats to the margins of political decision-making in BH and mobilized the Serb political scene. This has resulted in the worst crisis ‘from Dayton to the present time’

As member of the Gornji Vakuf War Presidency was answering the judges’ question if the HDZ in BH was a ‘satellite of the Croatian HDZ’, an interpreter was heard say ‘oh yes it were, it bloody were’ in English

As the cross-examination of former Herceg Bosna finance minister Neven Tomic continues, the prosecution notes that Prlic based his vision of BH on the establishment of three ethnic units. Croats were settled on purpose in areas where Croat majority had to be secured

In the cross-examination of Herceg Bosna’s former finance minister Neven Tomic, the prosecution has brought up a statement Jadranko Prlic gave to the OTP in December 2001. When he found himself sharing a courtroom with five other accused Bosnian Croat leaders ‘who were on completely different points of the compass’, the former Herceg Bosna prime minister first wanted his case to be severed. Then he asked that that statement not be admitted into evidence but his request was rejected

According to Svetlana Radovanovic, demography expert called by Jadranko Prlic’s defense, changes in the ethnic structure in eight municipalities in Herceg Bosna are and are not there, depending on how one looks at them. The trial of six former Bosnian Croat former leaders continues on 12 January 2009 after the Tribunal’s winter recess

According to Milan Cvikl, secretary general of the Slovenian government, ‘Bosnia and Herzegovina was completely unprepared for independence when it declared it, unlike Slovenia’. Cvikl drafted an expert analysis of the economic development of Herceg Bosna for the defense of Jadranko Prlic

Milan Cvikl, economic expert called by Jadranko Prlic’s defense believes that there was no joint criminal enterprise aimed at annexing Herceg Bosna to neighboring Croatia. According to Cvikl, the accused Bosnian Croat leaders actually protected the BH border with Croatia

The cross-examination of the military expert called by Bruno Stojic’s defense has shown the differences in the defense strategies of the six former Bosnian Croat leaders who are trying to shift the blame for the crimes on each other

While former Bosnian Croat military and civilian leaders quarrel about their respective responsibilities in Herceg Bosna, the prosecution blames all of them. The prosecutor brought military expert Davor Marijan back to what he had admitted earlier in his evidence, that Bruno Stojic was ‘the key person for logistics’, and then went on to quote former US president Eisenhower who said that ‘battles and war are won by logistics’

Slobodan Bozic, Bruno Stojic’s former deputy, claims that the prosecution documents about the systematic burning and destruction of mosques in Sovici and Doljani near Jablanica in April 1993 are forgeries. It remains a ‘mystery’ how those documents – if they were indeed forged – got in the Croatian Archive which handed them over to the prosecution

Bruno Stojic’s defense has tried to prove that the BH Army provoked the conflicts between Croats and Muslims. Former Bosnian Croat leaders pursued a peaceful policy, while the BH Army was ‘belligerent’, the defense has argued

Former HVO spokesman Veso Vegar contends that there was no ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Mostar in the summer of 1993. Vegar has never heard of the mass expulsion of Muslims, but admits that there were some isolated cases when ‘out-of-control criminal groups’ broke into Muslim apartments

Ante Kvesic, former commander of the regional war hospital in Western Mostar has described at the trial of the former Bosnian Croat leaders how Muslims were ‘saved’ after the conflict broke out between the HVO and the BH Army in Mostar

Through Tihomir Majic, former chief of a HVO depot in Grude, Bruno Stojic’s defense has tried to show that Bosnian Croats and the Republic of Croatia ‘had friendly intentions’ towards the BH Army. The witness blames the conflict on Serbs and their secret agents who stirred up trouble between Croats and Muslims

Two former BH Army members who took part in supplying weapons from the HVO logistics center in Grude to Sarajevo testified today in the defense of former Herceg Bosna minister Bruno Stojic

The Trial Chamber ordered Bruno Stojic's defense to contact Croatian authorities today to obtain clearance for the witness Ivan Bandic to answer questions about his intelligence and diplomatic work in Croatia after his career as a ‘secret agent’ in Herceg Bosna

‘Your Honors, protect me from her’, cried Bruno Stojic after Vesna Alaburic, Milivoj Petkovic’s defense counsel, brought up Tihomir Blaskic’s defense case: the HVO units in Central Bosnia were under Stojic’s command. Croatia has cleared Ivan Bandic to testify about his intelligence career in HIS, but he’ll do it in closed session

In Andjelko Makar's cross-examination, the prosecution tried to prove that it was in the best interest of Croats from both Croatia and Bosnia to send arms to the BH Army 2nd Corps; together, they could cut the corridor in Posavina through which Serbs were supplying weapons, ammunition and fuel to the Croatian and Bosnian Krajinas which were in their hands

According to Ivan Bagaric, former assistant for health care of Bruno Stojic, head of the Croatian Community of Herceg Bosna defense department, the BH Army was seen as ‘a victim’ by the international community, which made the Bosnian Croats feel ‘like ‘Don Quixote’: they were frustrated

In the cross-examination of Dragan Juric the prosecution put it to him that the HVO, and not BH Army, was responsible for the conflicts in Konjic. The witness denied the allegations that the HVO cooperated with Serbs. Juric claims he had ‘high fever’ when he said that Serbs and Croats would ‘together drive the Muslims out’ from that territory. His words were published in an article, Forwards, for fatherland and the king

In his opening statement delivered as his defense case begins, General Slobodan Praljak has presented ‘the Archimedes-Praljak Law’. According to that law, Praljak himself, ‘one Praljak’, is the basic unit of measure

According to General Slobodan Praljak the war in the former Yugoslavia was not a war between the states that had emerged after its collapse; it was the war of Serbs against everybody else. This is why, Praljak contends, Croatia and BH were ‘a single theater of war’ and it was logical that he as an officer in the Croatian army actually spent more time fighting in BH

General Slobodan Praljak contends that the Croatian army never entered BH, except in April 1992, when they did so to defend Dubrovnik. Praljak has confirmed that during the war some 13,000 volunteers fought in BH. They got their salaries and other benefits in Croatia

Slobodan Praljak, in the second week of his testimony in his own defense at the trial of former Bosnian Croat leaders, claims Franjo Tudjman was the only person who didn’t want to divide BH. Praljak says he will prove that Western Herzegovina was first offered to Tudjman by Serbs and then by Alija Izetbegovic who said ‘here, you can have it, take it!’

General Praljak claims he was not in contact with Franjo Tudjman and Gojko Susak and he couldn’t receive orders from them at the time of the conflict between the HVO and the BH Army

While ‘billions’ in foreign donations went into Muslim pockets, Croatia provided arms and aided the defense effort in BH even when it became obvious that some of the weapons would be used against Croats in Herceg Bosna, General Slobodan Praljak claims as his evidence continues

Continuing his evidence in his defense, Slobodan Praljak contends that the UNHCR moved Muslims to third countries arguing that BH was saved thanks to the HVO soldiers

General Slobodan Praljak claims Croatian president Stipe Mesic ‘perjured himself’ and ‘lied’ when he said in court that Tudjman and Milosevic had agreed to divide BH in Karadjordjevo in 1991

As he continues his evidence, General Slobodan Praljak explains why the siege of Sarajevo was not lifted, why there never was a joint command of the HVO and the BH Army and who in Sarajevo undermined all the agreements with Croats

As his evidence continues, the accused Praljak argues that the HVO did not issue an ‘ultimatum’ to the BH Army on 15 January 1993, demanding that they either place themselves under HVO command or withdraw from the three provinces in Herceg Bosna because ‘everything’ had already been agreed the day before between Franjo Tudjman and Alija Izetbegovic

Continuing his evidence today, General Slobodan Praljak expanded his argument on the alleged BH aggression against Herceg Bosna. According to Praljak, in January 1993 the BH Army first attacked Gornji Vakuf and then other Croat-controlled towns including Mostar, because it realized that it couldn’t take anything from the Serbs

General Slobodan Praljak contends that in 1993 the siege of Sarajevo could have ‘relatively easily’ been lifted had Bosniak political and military leadership wanted it

As his examination-in chief draws to a close, General Slobodan Praljak puts on a premiere of yet another of the short feature films he directed in Zagreb in preparation for the trial

According to General Slobodan Praljak, in September 1993 there was a rumor that BH ‘will cease to exist’, and it was therefore quite logical for Franjo Tudjman and Fikret Abdic to discuss the possible annexation of Western Bosnia to neighboring Croatia

General Slobodan Praljak has challenged the prosecution claims that in the second half of 1993 he told HVO units in the Vares area ‘they should show no mercy to anyone’. The message, he has claimed, concerned the disobedient HVO soldiers. What Praljak actually meant was that all those who break the law should be treated harshly, ‘with complete impartiality’

According to Jadranko Prlic’s lawyer, General Slobodan Praljak has been ‘too generous’ when he has described former Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovic in his examination-in chief as a ‘gentleman’, but also as a ‘shameless liar’ who ‘constantly changed his mind’. According to Prlic’s defense, Izetbegovic and the BH Army – and not the accused Herceg Bosna leaders – were members of a joint criminal enterprise

In his cross-examination of General Praljak, Jadranko Prlic’s defense counsel has brought up Izetbegovic’s Islamic Declaration, accusing him of trying to carve out an Islamic state at the Bosnian Croats’ expense

HVO was an integral part of the BH Armed Forces, commanders had no effective control over the units, security services, military police, health care and information and propaganda service were under the jurisdiction of the Defense Department headed by the accused Stojic, not of the Main Staff. The accused Praljak and Petkovic both served as commanders of the Main Staff

After almost five months of absence, Jadranko Prlic appeared today at the trial of the former Bosnian Croat leaders to explain why he had been boycotting the trial. Following Praljak’s example, Prlic demanded to be allowed to examine witnesses and/or intervene when necessary in place of his lawyers from now on. His lawyers’ ethic is now being investigated by the Association of Defense Counsel practicing before the Tribunal

Today Praljak continued answering the prosecutor’s questions. He repeated his claim that Stjepan Mesic was a ‘liar and perjurer’. He went on to say that Alija Izetbegovic was Milosevic’s partner in the effort to divide BH. In Praljak’s words, Izetbegovic advocated the creation of ‘a Greater BH’ with Muslim majority

When a judge asked Praljak why the parents in Nova Gradiska, Croatia, protested, demanding the return of their children from the frontlines in BH, he replies that during the war, ‘everybody poked their nose into everything’

In an effort to prove the involvement of the HV in the armed conflict in BH, the prosecution continued its cross-examination of Slobodan Praljak, bringing up documents that corroborate the involvement of the Croatian forces in the clashes between the HVO and the BH Army. Praljak denied this allegation arguing that it was a case of ‘clumsy wording’ leading to ‘false conclusions’

When HZ HB president Mate Boban explained to Tudjman that Croats could have the majority in some Herceg Bosna municipalities through ‘cleansing’, he meant ‘ethnic cleansing’, the prosecutor says. According to Praljak, Boban merely used a word with ‘an unfortunate connotation’

As Slobodan Praljak's cross-examination continued, the prosecution spoke about the role of the accused in the breaking up the HOS; unlike the HVO, the HOS acknowledged the legitimacy of the BH government in Sarajevo. Arguing that the HOS implemented Ante Pavelic’s policies that made him shiver, Praljak denied having anything to do with the death of Blaz Kraljevic in August 1992.

As General Slobodan Praljak contends, Croats had the toughest time in Mostar in the communist era; this is why they mostly declared themselves as Yugoslavs. With their documents showing the opposite, that the majority of Yugoslavs in Mostar were actually ethnic Muslims, the prosecution argues that the Croatian authorities feared that Croats would end up a minority once the Muslims’ national awareness was raised

Praljak’s style of command, reflected in the suggestions he gave to subordinate HVO officers to ‘raze’ a town ‘to the ground’ or ‘sort out without mercy’ created an atmosphere among the HVO members where they felt free to either commit crimes or to tolerate them, the prosecution contends. Praljak denied the authenticity of the documents used by the prosecution, claiming that he was ‘framed by somebody’

General Slobodan Praljak contends that when he became the chief of the HVO Main Staff in July 1993 he had no knowledge that Muslim men had been arrested and detained in prison camps. Praljak denies that Mladen Naletilic Tuta’s Convicts’ Battalion was under the command of the HVO Main Staff

When the prosecution showed an incriminating report drafted by HVO commander Jure Schmidt on 24 October 1992 in which Schmidt says that ‘Prozor and the Rama lake have been ethnically cleansed’, General Slobodan Praljak replied that Schmidt was not a HVO commander at all. According to Praljak, Schmidt was a German who couldn’t speak Croatian well and didn’t know the meaning of the term ‘ethnic cleansing’

The prosecutor today put it to General Slobodan Praljak that he was not interested in punishing the military police members who committed crimes because he only wanted to use them in combat. Praljak contends that ‘they fought well’ but then they wasted the credit earned on the battlefield by committing crimes against civilians of which he ‘was not aware’

As his cross-examination continues, the prosecutor brings up General Slobodan Praljak’s role in the ‘premature’ implementation of the Vance-Owen peace plan in January 1993, and in the ‘active defense’ of Gornji Vakuf

Continuing the cross-examination, the prosecution showed the court an interview in Novi list newspapers in April 2004 where General Slobodan Praljak says hat ‘nothing bad happened’ in Stolac. Praljak added that he would ‘award a medal’ to whoever expelled the Muslim women and children from that town as that person saved them from the revenge at the hands of the Croatian refugees from Central Bosnia

Since Praljak contended that in 1993 he ‘never set foot’ in any of the HVO detention centers, the prosecution showed a part of the interview Praljak gave in 1995 to a BBC journalist making the documentary Death of Yugoslavia. Praljak said that he had been in Heliodrom. Praljak tried to justify that by saying that he spoke in general terms, ‘on behalf of everybody’ from the HVO, based on the information he ‘obtained later’

Croatian historian and independent presidential candidate Josip Jurcevic is giving evidence in the defense of General Slobodan Praljak. Jurcevic drafted an expert report focused among other things on the relationship between Croatia and BH from 1991 to 1995. In Jurcevic’s view, the names Bosnia and Herzegovina and Herceg Bosna have the same meaning and this is how the use of both names should be interpreted in the HVO documents

Zvonimir Skender, retired HV officer and former French Foreign Legion member, is testifying as Slobodan Praljak’s defense witness. As the Croat-Muslim conflict drew to a close, he was the commander of the Tomislavgrad Operational Zone. According to him, the HVO was ‘a poorly organized army’, and it was difficult to exercise command over it

In his examination of the defense expert, Slobodan Praljak boasted that after the BH Army troops committed the crimes in Uzdol he had to deal with the HVO soldiers not only as their commander, but also as a ‘social psychologist, a strong male figure and a father’ in order to prevent retaliation. This prompted Judge Prandler to tell Praljak that by now everybody clearly understood that Praljak wanted to paint himself as a ‘homo universalis’. Judge Prandler advised Praljak to focus on asking questions

In the cross-examination, the prosecutor confronted Dragan Curcic, former commander of the Ludvig Pavlovic Independent Battalion of the HVO, with his request to the local police in Capljina to ‘spare from abuse’ the mother of one of his Muslim soldiers. The trial continues on 26 October 2009

According to Bozo Pavlovic, former commander of the HVO brigade in Stolac, the total war between Croats and Muslims broke out after ‘the betrayal’ of the Muslim members of the HVO on 30 June 1993 when they attacked the HVO soldiers in the Northern Camp in Mostar

In the cross-examination of former HVO commander Bozo Pavlovic, the prosecution implied that the ‘total war’ between Croats and Muslims started several months before the alleged betrayal of the Muslim ‘brothers in arms’ who left the HVO to join the BH Army after Boban’s ultimatum to Alija Izetbegovic

In the cross-examination of the former HVO member from Konjic testifying in the defense of Milivoj Petkovic, the prosecution implied that the BH Army plans of March 1993 were nothing but precautionary measures against the invasion plans of the HVO. According to the defense, those BH Army plans are key evidence proving that the BH Army attacked Herceg Bosna

As Filip Filipovic, former deputy commander of the Central Bosnia Operational Zone continues his evidence, General Milivoj Petkovic’s defense showed a video of a meeting in Jablanica on 4 May 1993. At the meeting, the HVO and the BH Army commanders tried to see if they would continue being allies or would become enemies as the war continued

According to the former deputy commander of the Central Bosnia Operational Zone Filip Filipovic, all Croats in that part of BH were clear that Alija Izetbegovic wanted to build an Islamic, ‘green’ state

Continuing its case, Milivoj Petkovic’s defense called retired brigadier in the BH Army Vinko Maric, who claimed that every HVO soldier was a ‘loyal defender of BH’

In his cross-examination by the prosecution, Vinko Maric said he ‘didn’t know a single HVO soldier who would want to destroy the Old Bridge’. Maric is testifying in the defense of Milivoj Petkovic. The prosecution brought up HVO documents which indicate that the shelling of the old part of Eastern Mostar was ordered on 8 November 1993. The Old Bridge, located in that part of the town, was destroyed on 9 November 1993

With the help of Croatian Army brigadier Radmilo Jasak, the defense of Milivoj Petkovic calculated that the war in BH lasted four years and three months. The conflict between the HVO and the BH Army took only twenty to thirty percent of the total

Continuing the cross-examination of Radmilo Jasak, the prosecution suggested that Bosnian Croats misinterpreted the Vance-Owen peace plan, thinking that they should have all the power in the three Croat majority provinces. The defense witness contends that for the Croats, the peace plan meant the end of the war. The HVO was not responsible for starting the conflict with the BH Army

In final part of the cross-examination of Radmilo Jasak, former analyst with the HVO Military Intelligence Service, the prosecutor put it to him that the HVO ‘turned its back on the BH Army, making an alliance with the Serbs’ in the summer of 1993. The witness explained that the alliance was ‘a necessary evil’ because of the Croats in the Konjic enclave faced a difficult situation

Chief of the HVO Main Staff Milivoj Petkovic started his testimony in his own defense. On the first day of his evidence, Petkovic noted that in early October 1992, the War Presidency of the Republic of BH decorated him with the highest military award of the BH Army, the Order of the Golden Fleur-de-Lis, for his ‘special contribution to defending BH against the aggression’

Former chief of the HVO Main Staff Milivoj Petkovic contends that the BH Army was unable to lift the siege of Sarajevo and defeat Serbs and then turned against the weaker adversary, the Bosnian Croats. Petkovic claims Alija Izetbegovic and Mustafa Hajrulahovic Talijan told him as much in secret

General Milivoj Petkovic blamed the crimes in Sovici and Doljani on the Convicts’ Battalion. According to him, the Convicts’ Battalion didn’t report to the HVO Main Staff, but was directly subordinated to Mate Boban

In his replies to the judges, former chief of the HVO Main Staff Milivoj Petkovic gave his impressions from the meetings with Tudjman and Susak and about the Croatian Army role in the BH war. Mladen Naletilic Tuta called Petkovic ‘Tito’s soldier’ and threatened he would kill him, Petkovic recounted

Former chief of the HVO Main Staff, General Milivoj Petkovic contends that his orders from January and April 1993 to the BH Army were in fact ‘invitations to talk’ issued to the enemy side to speed up the implementation of the Vance Owen peace plan. As Petkovic put it, those orders to the BH Army to either ‘subordinate or withdraw’ from three BH provinces were not ultimatums as alleged by the prosecution

Former chief of the HVO Military Police Administration Valentin Coric asked the lawyers, prosecution and the judges not to interrupt his defense counsel in the cross-examination of Milivoj Petkovic. ‘I don’t defend Croatia and Franjo Tudjman, unlike some other accused’, Coric said, adding he raised only issues related to the indictment

In the cross-examination of Milivoj Petkovic the prosecution contends that the former chief of the HVO Main Staff was not ‘an apolitical military technocrat’; Petkovic was an important political figure in Herceg Bosna. The accused rejected this claim saying that Boban, Prlic and Stojic made political decisions. Defense was the main political goal of the HVO, Petkovic added

In the cross-examination, the prosecution implied that General Milivoj Petkovic lied in his evidence at the trials of Tihomir Blaskic and Darijo Kordic ‘protecting the interests of Croatia’. The prosecution alleges that Petkovic is again lying now as he is testifying in his own defense, corroborating the allegations with a presidential transcript from April 1999. Petkovic denies it all

At the trial of the former Herceg Bosna officials, the prosecution continued its cross-examination of General Milivoj Petkovic. The prosecutor alleged that Tudjman’s government was afraid of Petkovic’s evidence in the Blaskic case, knowing that he had quite specific information about Croatia’s involvement in the BH conflict. Petkovic denied this

Noting that Croats made an alliance with Serbs against the BH Army, the prosecution continued cross-examining General Petkovic. To corroborate the point, the prosecutor today showed an order of 24 June 1993 in which Petkovic ‘prohibits’ further support to the HVO’s erstwhile allies and orders that ‘support be provided to new allies’. As Petkovic admitted, the new allies were Bosnian Serbs

In his examination-in chief, Zdenko Andabak accused the HOS of looting Muslim homes and businesses in Prozor. The prosecutor showed evidence that members of the witness’s military police battalion illegally seized some 30 vehicles in late October 1992. The witness explained that the unit confiscated just a few vehicles ‘for safekeeping’

Zvonko Vidovic, former member of the criminal investigations division in the HVO military police in Mostar, said that the cases where Muslims were evicted from their apartments, forced to go to East Mostar, and had their property looted, were ‘isolated incidents’. The witness contends that they were not part of the plan to ethnically cleanse the town, as alleged by the prosecution

The prosecution today cross-examined the former member of the HVO criminal investigations division in Mostar, Zvonko Vidovic. Prosecutor West noted that 77 percent of the prisoners in Heliodrom camp were in fact civilians. The witness agreed that this could be concluded based on the documents. Vidovic however noted that ‘it was impossible to verify’ if those who claimed they were not soldiers spoke the truth

The defense of former chief of the HVO Military Police Administration Valentin Coric rested its case with the evidence of Zvonko Vidovic. It remains uncertain if the defense of Berislav Pusic, former head of the HVO Commission for exchange, will start its case. The defense of Bruno Stojic announced that Momcilo Mandic would give evidence for him

At the trial of the six former Herceg Bosna leaders, the prosecution wants to reopen its case in order to tender into evidence Mladic’s ‘war diaries’ and documents referring to their contents

The prosecution wants to tender into evidence parts of Ratko Mladic’s ‘war diaries’, as it believes the conversations between the VRS Main Staff commander and the accused Bosnian Croat leaders – Prlic, Stojic, Praljak and Petkovic – from October 1992 to February 1994 corroborate the prosecution’s allegation that the four accused Croats took part in the joint criminal enterprise

The prosecution in the case of the former Herceg Bosna leaders filed a motion to tender relevant parts of General Ratko Mladic’s ‘war diaries’ into evidence. The prosecution claims the diaries corroborate the allegations in the indictment on the joint criminal enterprise to annex parts of BH to neighboring Croatia

If the Trial Chamber in the case against former Herceg Bosna leaders grants the prosecution’s motion to reopen its case because the prosecution wants to tender into evidence relevant portions of Ratko Mladic’s war diaries, the defense of the first accused Jadranko Prlic will also seek to reopen its case, since it believes the diaries contain ‘highly relevant evidence that favors the defense’

The defense teams of Jadranko Prlic, Milivoj Petkovic and Bruno Stojic have so far opposed the prosecution’s motion seeking leave to tender into evidence parts of Mladic’s ‘war diaries’. Prlic and Praljak argue that the prosecution has ‘engaged in a public relations campaign’. They request the Chamber to lift the confidentiality of the diaries and to grant permission to the parties to disclose and discuss with the press the content of Mladic's diaries

The trial of former Herceg Bosna leaders has been suspended pending the decision on Jadranko Prlic’s motion to disqualify Hungarian judge Arpad Prandler

Jadranko Prlic’s defense has urged the Tribunal’s president to appoint a panel of judges to examine if the Trial Chamber hearing the case against six former Herceg Bosna officials is able to reach a fair judgment. There are ‘irreconcilable differences bordering on antipathy’ among the judges, the defense contends

The ICTY president declared that he has no jurisdiction and dismissed the motion filed by the defense of the former Herceg Bosna prime minister to appoint a panel of judges to consider if the Trial Chamber in the case against the six former Herceg Bosna leaders is capable of producing a fair judgment

Starting the prosecution’s closing argument at the trial of the former Bosnian Croat leaders, prosecutor Scott identified four key points in the joint criminal enterprise aimed at establishing the Greater Croatia, headed by Croatian president Franjo Tudjman and other ‘architects’. The enterprise was run by the Croatian state leadership and the goal was to capture territory, establish a demographic Croatian majority there and make the territory ‘look, sound and feel Croatian’

Continuing the closing arguments at the trial of the former Herceg Bosna leaders, the prosecution focused on the contributions of the accused to the joint criminal enterprise. According to the prosecution, Prlic controlled all the levers of power in the HVO, Stojic was responsible for HVO prisons and prison camps and Praljak’s ‘only interest was in winning the war’

The prosecutor concluded his arguments about Praljak’s responsibility by recalling Praljak’s exit from the stage, from the post of commander of the HVO Main Staff on 9 November 1993. According to the prosecutor, General Milivoj Petkovic was also ‘loyal and committed’ to the joint criminal enterprise

The prosecution has asked for long prison sentences for the former Herceg Bosna leaders, ranging from 25 to 40 years. The six accused are charged with the HVO crimes against Bosnian Muslims in 1993 and 1994 in Central Bosnia and Western Herzegovina

In its closing argument, the defense of former Herceg Bosna prime minister Jadranko Prlic contends that the prosecution case was based on ‘phrases taken out of context’. As Prlic’s lawyer said, it was particularly painful to hear what the prosecution thought of the Croat defense witnesses

The defense of the former Herceg Bosna prime minister contends in the closing arguments that Jadranko Prlic is ‘innocent and should be acquitted’. The defense of the former head of the Department of Defense, Bruno Stojic, insisted that he ‘never was a nationalist’. Stojic’s defense lawyers said they were offended by some claims made by prosecutor Kenneth Scott in his closing arguments

Bruno Stojic’s defense stressed in its closing arguments that the international witnesses couldn’t be trusted: they were partial and ill-informed. In Dayton, Republika Srpska was ‘rewarded for ethnic cleansing’, the defense argued: it was made into a separate entity. At the same time, the prosecution in The Hague declared that Herceg Bosna was a ‘para-state’ although the ‘third entity’ was no longer a taboo topic. Slobodan Praljak’s defense started its closing arguments later today

General Slobodan Praljak’s defense continued its closing arguments claiming that Croatia’s interest in the situation in BH was ‘legitimate’; it did not go beyond protecting its own borders and the interests of Croats in BH. Praljak was a ‘peacemaker’ who ‘went to BH to defend his homeland’

In the final part of his closing argument, General Slobodan Praljak argued that he is ‘not guilty’ and that his ‘conscience is clear’, adding that he counts on the presiding judge Antonetti and his just adjudication of facts. The defense of General Milivoj Petkovic began its closing arguments later today

Milivoj Petkovic was not a man of war, Petkovic’s defense lawyer claims, asking for the acquittal of the former commander of the HVO Main Staff. The defense of Valentin Coric claims that the military commanders of the HVO – Praljak and Petkovic – were in charge of the implementation of everyday orders and combat tasks of the military police

Valentin Coric’s defense called for the acquittal of the former chief of the HVO military police administration. Coric’s defense contends that military commanders are responsible for what the military police did or didn’t do. The defense of Berislav Pusic, the last accused of the six Herceg Bosna leaders, began its closing argument today

Berislav Pusic’s defense contends that the prosecution has failed to prove the guilt of the former chief of the Commission for the Exchange of Prisoners, calling for his acquittal. According to Pusic’s defense, it is not true that Pusic ‘has shown no remorse’. One of the reasons why Pusic has not attended the trial regularly is because he is ‘haunted by the memories of war’

In his response to the defense closing arguments at the trial of the former Herceg Bosna leaders, the prosecutor insisted that the accused ‘although they didn’t have blood on their hands... put together plans that led to the spilling of many people’s blood’. Prlic, Stojic, Praljak and Petkovic will address the Trial Chamber tomorrow

The trial of the former Herceg Bosna leaders ends with the final address of Jadranko Prlic, Bruno Stojic, Milivoj Petkovic and the lawyers defending Slobodan Praljak, Valentin Coric and Berislav Pusic

General Praljak owes over 3 million Euros to the Tribunal: the sum paid to his defense lawyers because he claimed legal aid as an indigent. Praljak and five other Herceg Bosna leaders are currently awaiting judgment on the indictment for crimes against Bosnian Muslims. The investigation conducted over several years established that Praljak was not indigent and was able to pay for his own defense

The Trial Chamber considers that the recent decision by the Registry to compel General Slobodan Praljak to pay back around 3.3 million Euro for defense costs ‘increases the risk’ of Praljak absconding. The Trial Chamber ordered the accused to be placed under house arrest in his Zagreb home until his return to the UN Detention Unit. General Praljak has been provisionally released pending the judgment in his case

The prosecution has appealed against the Trial Chamber’s decision to put Slobodan Praljak under house arrest during his provisional release. The prosecution has asked the judges to bring the accused back to the Tribunal’s Detention Unit ‘urgently’. In light of the Registry’s decision compelling the accused to pay back more than 3 million Euro to the Tribunal, Praljak cannot be trusted that he will not try to abscond, the prosecution contends

The Trial Chamber in the case against the former Herceg Bosna leaders ordered Slobodan Praljak to return ‘immediately’ to the UN Detention Unit; he has been provisionally released pending the judgment in his case

The Trial Chamber headed by the French judge Antonetti will hand down its judgment to the six former Herceg Bosnia leaders on 29 May 2013

The Trial Chamber has sentenced six former Bosnian Croat leaders to a total of 111 years in prison for crimes committed against Bosniaks and other non-Croats in Herceg Bosna. The majority in the Trial Chamber, with the presiding judge Antonetti dissenting, established that the conflict was international and that a joint criminal enterprise existed. The enterprise included the former Herceg Bosna leaders, and Franjo Tudjman, Gojko Susak and Janko Bobetko

Praljak has asked for a stay of proceedings until he has received ‘in the language he understands’ all the relevant documents including his judgment from May 2013 and all the transcripts from his trial. He was tried with five other Herceg Bosna leaders. The trial began in April 2006. Praljak insists on this because he understands only Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian. Praljak intends to represent himself in the future proceedings because he claims he has no money to pay his lawyers

At the first status conference after the trial judgment, Slobodan Praljak complains that the Tribunal’s Registry has set up a ‘conspiracy’ against him. Praljak is critical of the fact that the documents pertaining to his financial status have been filed as ‘confidential’ and has called for their disclosure. Also, Praljak promises that if his request is not granted, he will make the documents available ‘urbi et orbi’ to defend his dignity

The Registry has petitioned the Appeals Chamber to order Slobodan Praljak to pay the debt amounting to 2.8 million dollars. The amount has been paid to Praljak during the trial for his defense team the legal aid fund

The six former Herceg Bosna leaders received their trial judgment in late May 2013. The translation from French into English will not be finished before June 2014. After that, the defense teams will have 60 days to file their appeals. Slobodan Praljak still contends that he has no money to reimburse 2.8 million Euros the Tribunal has paid for his defense. According to Praljak, the Registry has conducted a ‘determined campaign with unbelievable amount of lies’ against him

The Appeals Chamber has rejected Slobodan Praljak’s motion in which he petitioned the court to assign counsel to him ‘in the interest of justice’. Alternatively, Praljak asked for a stay of proceedings until he received the translation of the trial judgment and other documents in order to be able to represent himself in the appellate proceedings

The Appeals Chamber has ordered Slobodan Praljak to pay 2.8 million Euros within 90 days or alternatively, to settle the debt in monthly installments over a three-year period. The amount was paid from the legal aid fun to Praljak’s defense team during the trial

At a status conference in the appellate proceedings in the case against six former Herceg Bosna leaders, Slobodan Praljak represented himself. The trial judgment will be translated from French into English in June, and into Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian in September

The Appeals Chamber has dismissed Slobodan Praljak’s motion for the proceedings against him to be suspended until he receives the trial judgment and other documents relevant for the appellate proceeding ‘in a language he understands’. The judges have decided to assign counsel to Praljak in ‘the interest of justice’. The costs of providing Praljak with legal representation will be added to Praljak’s current debt to the Tribunal of 2.8 million Euros

The Tribunal’s Registry has informed the Appeals Chamber that Slobodan Praljak has not paid back a single euro of the 2.8 million euro debt incurred by his defense

At the status conference in the appellate proceedings, the defense teams of the former Herceg Bosna leaders expressed their concern over the short deadlines for the submission of their appeals. The defense lawyers stressed that they were all ‘under a great deal of pressure’. Prlic, Stojic, Praljak, Petkovic and Coric didn’t have any complaints about the conditions in the detention while Pusic was granted provisional release

Valentin Coric has filed a request for provisional release pending the appellate hearing in his case. He has been tried with five other former Herceg Bosna officials. In the motion, Coric notes that in early December 2014 he will have served two thirds of his 16-year prison sentence

The appellate proceedings in the case against former Herceg Bosna officials continue as scheduled. The appeals were filed in January 2015, and the responses and rejoinders were filed in May 2015. The judgment is expected in mid-2017. The appellate hearing will be scheduled later

Maltese judge Carmel Agius, the Tribunal’s new President, was appointed the presiding judge of the Appeals Chamber hearing the case against six former Herceg Bosna leaders. The appellate proceedings continue, but the appellate hearing hasn’t yet been scheduled

At a status conference in the appellate proceedings in the case against former Herceg Bosna leaders, General Slobodan Praljak asked a question that ‘has been bothering me for a long time’, which concerned proof ‘beyond reasonable doubt’

The Croatian government has asked permission to take part as an amicus curiae in the appellate proceedings against the former Bosnian Croat leaders. According to the Croatian government, the trial judgment in their case posthumously convicted three former Croatian officials – Franjo Tudjman, Gojko Susak and Janko Bobetko 'based on non-existent evidence'

According to the prosecution, Croatia’s motion should be rejected for three reasons: under the Tribunal’s rules, Croatia does not meet the requirements that would allow it to take part in the proceedings as amicus curiae, the information it intends to present will not assist the Appeals Chamber in its deliberations and the late Franjo Tudjman, Gojko Susak and Janko Bobetko ‘will not benefit’ in any way from the right to a fair trial in the context of the Prlic et al. case

At the status conference today Carmel Agius, the presiding judge in the Appeals Chamber, indicated that the Appeals Chamber would deliver its judgment in the case against the former Herceg Bosna leaders in November 2017. All the accused except Berislav Pusic, who has been granted provisional release, attended the hearing

The Tribunal’s Appeals Chamber has denied Croatia’s motion to take part in the appellate proceedings against the former Bosnian Croat leaders in the capacity of an amicus curiae. According to the judges, Tudjman, Susak and Bobetko were not indicted in the Prlic et al. case and consequently their (posthumous) right to the presumption of innocence was not violated

Ratko Mladic's defense has now accused all those involved in his trial - from the judges of the Tribunal and the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals to the high-ranking UN officials – of a ‘systematic bias' against their client. Mladic's defense has demanded that the trial be suspended and judges Orie and Flugge disqualified. They also want the UN Security Council to set up a working group which will investigate the allegations

The appellate hearing in the case against six former Herceg Bosna leaders will most likely take place in the first four months of 2017, the presiding judge has announced, adding that it is the ‘worst appellate case’ ever

Almost 30 months ago, the Appeals Chamber ordered Slobodan Praljak to pay back to the Tribunal 2.8 million euros his defense lawyers received from the legal aid fund. The accused, as it turned out, was not entitled to receive legal aid in light of his financial status. Now, the Appeals Chamber issued a new order to the same effect.

The defense of the former Herceg Bosna prime minister Jadranko Prlic has called for his conviction to be quashed. According to Prlic, the Croatian Community of Herceg Bosna was established in response to the obvious inability of BH to defend itself against the Serb aggression and to the ‘collapse of the government’ in Sarajevo. It was in fact ‘a community comprising municipalities which functioned as part of BH’

Bruno Stojic’s defense has criticized trial judges Arpad Prandler and Stephan Trechsel for ‘failing to consider all the presidential transcripts’, choosing instead to focus only on those which show Tudjman’s ‘ambivalence’, as they state in the judgment: he had nothing but praise for BH in public all the while he secretly plotted to divide it and annex parts of it to Croatia

The authorities in Sarajevo and Zagreb have been invited to state in writing by 5 April what they would be in a position to do to assist the Tribunal in its bid to recover more than 208 million euros owed to it by the accused Slobodan Praljak

Slobodan Praljak’s defense considers that the trial judgment is ‘incomplete, confusing, contradictory and incomprehensible’ and should therefore be set aside, Praljak’s conviction should be quashed or a retrial ordered

The defense of the former HVO Main Staff commander Milivoj Petkovic claims there was no plan to ethnically cleans Muslims from Herceg Bosna, that the ethnic composition of every town and village in Herceg Bosna remained unchanged, and that the Croat-Muslim conflict was caused on 30 June by the ‘treason’ on the part of the Muslim soldiers in HVO ranks. The Herceg Bosna authorities had to respond and take measures lest they should lose the entire Mostar region

The defense of the former HVO Military Police Administration Valentin Coric challenges all the findings in the trial judgment, arguing that it is based on ‘forged documents’ and wrong ideas about ‘isolated incidents’

Berislav Pusic’s defense contends that the Trial Chamber chose to ‘disregard inconvenient facts’ that ‘do not fit the narrative of the existence of a joint criminal enterprise’. Pusic did not have the power to influence the conditions in detention centers. According to the defense, he was just a pencil pusher

The prosecution contends the Appeals Chamber should double the sentences the former Bosnian Croat leaders received at trial: they should get a total of 225 years in prison for the crimes committed in 1993 and 1994 in Herceg Bosna

The Tribunal's Appeals Chamber have rejected Croatia's request for a review of the decision not to grant the state the role of an amicus curiae in the case against former Herceg Bosna leaders. Its second request, to 'rehabilitate' Tuđman, Šušak, and Bobetko, has not been considered at all as Croatia is not a party in the Prlic et al. case

As soon as the Appeals Chamber confirmed his first-instance verdict and 20-year prison sentence, Praljak shouted that he was not a war criminal and drank poison. After first aid was administered at the Tribunal, Praljak was taken to hospital. The Appeals Chamber resumed the hearing after two and a half hours. The findings in the trial judgment about the existence of an international armed conflict and a joint criminal enterprise whose goals were shared by President Franjo Tudjman and other Croatian officials. The sentences delivered by the Trial Chamber were confirmed for all the accused