Wednesday, October 17, 2007

ICTY UPHOLDS ACQUITTAL OF BOSNIAN GENERAL

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands (October 17,2007) - The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) yesterday upheld the acquittal of a former Bosnian general saying his involvement in a military operation in the southern Bosnian city of Mostar during which Bosnian troops murdered civilians (Croatians living in Bosnia) could not be proven.

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia upheld the 2005 acquittal by the lower court of 55-year-old former Bosnian general Sefer Halilovic.

The charges concerned particularly his alleged involvement in the so-called Operation Neretva in the villages of Grabovica and Uzdol in September 1993, during which Bosnian troops killed at least 38 unarmed civilians.

Halilovic, who cooperated voluntarily with the ICTY, was commander of the Bosnian Army at that time.

ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte indicted him in 2001 for his role in the combat operations of the Bosnian Army during the 1992-1995 Serbian,Montenegrin and Croatian aggressions against Bosnia,and alleged involvement in the killings of civilians.

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