After Generals Janko Bobetko and Rahim Ademi, Norac was next in line to be indicted for crimes in the Medak pocket. The prosecution announces its intention to join the proceedings against Ademi and Norac and defer the case to Croatian courts.

Croatian authorities received an order instructing them to transfer the accused General to the Netherlands. His initial appearance before the Tribunal is scheduled for Thursday, 8 July, at 4 p. m.

Pursuant to a court order, on Thursday morning Norac was transferred from a prison in Croatia to a Tribunal courtroom in order to hear the indictment and to enter his plea. He has pleaded not guilty on every count of the Medak pocket indictment. The accused was returned to Croatia, where he is currently serving a prison sentence.

The Trial Chamber that will decide on the referral of the case of Rahim Ademi and Mirko Norac sought from the parties to specify how the trial would proceed in Croatia. OTP responds that it will be monitoring the proceedings in Croatia and will ask that the case be deferred back to the Tribunal in case of any unacceptable amendments

The first referral hearing was held today at the Tribunal. The prosecutor, who applied for the referral of the Ademi/Norac case to Croatia, expressed certain concerns, primarily about the weight that the Croatian courts would give to the principle of command responsibility

The Referral Bench grants the application of the Chief Prosecutor and refers the trial for the crimes in the Medak pocket in 1993 to Croatian courts