[Nettime-bold] (Fwd) Court reverses convictions in Ahmici massacre

["Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>]

We should learn several things from this reversal of fortunes:

First is that prosecution of war crimes is a very hard task. Evidence 
is often hard to come by. Witnesses are often unreliable and their 
testimonies shaky. This is not going to improve with time. 

Second is that the Hague tribunal is a real court - not a kangaroo 
tribunal - and the indictees actually have better chances of getting 
a fair trial there than in their home countries - they also have a right 
to appeal and, as we see, they CAN get acquitted.

Third is that those acquitals came in the politically most opportune 
time for the Croatian government which can now claim credit 
(although it did not do anything to deserve it) for bringing "Croatian 
boys" home from prison, in order to calm down numerous and very 
vocal right-wing opposition supporters, whose primary (and perhaps 
the only) political program is opposing the cooperation with The 
Hague tribunal.

Maybe ICTY can get the Operation Storm suspects now in return 
for the Ahmici ones being shipped back home? On the other hand, 
does the ICTY keep a fund at hand to reimburse those wrongfully 
sentenced, who sue back for the time they spent in prison unjustly?

It is time for political forces inside Croatia to focus on the real 
problems facing their society. Like the deep economic crisis. Lack 
of indigenous resources. Dependency on the Western handouts. 
Atrocious IMF terms. Resulting cuts in social services. That's what 
causes the underlying tensions.

Also, I would really like to see how the following story would 
develop: in just 3 days 23 kidney patients died in several Croatian 
hospitals undergoing their regular dialysis regiment. It seems that 
the culprit was an error with the dialysis machines in those 
hospitals - all imports from the U.S. (Baxter Corp.). I know this 
would result in a millions dollars lawsuit in the US. Let's see how it 
would end up in Croatia.

ivo

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date sent:      	Tue, 23 Oct 2001 11:19:12 -0400
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From:           	Andras Riedlmayer 
<riedlmay@FAS.HARVARD.EDU>
Subject:        	Court reverses convictions in Ahmici massacre
To:             	JUSTWATCH-L@LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU

(cross-posting of comments only permitted)

In the Ahmici massacre case (Kupreskic et al.) the ICTY Appeals 
Chamber
has dealt a serious blow to the prosecution by overturning the convictions
of brothers Zoran and Mirjan Kupreskic and their cousin Vlatko Kupreskic
and ordering their immediate release.

   The U.N. court also significantly reduced the sentences of
   two other Bosnian Croats who had been convicted of involvement in
   the 1993 massacres in Ahmici, when more than 100 Muslim civilians,
   including women and children, were slaughtered.

Andras Riedlmayer
=========================================================================
Associated Press
October 23, 2001

Court reverses convictions in Ahmici massacre

ANTHONY DEUTSCH; Associated Press Writer

  THE HAGUE, Netherlands, Oct. 23 (AP) -- The Yugoslav war crimes tribunal
Tuesday overturned the convictions of three Bosnian Croats who had been
sentenced for one of the worst massacres of the Bosnian war, saying their
trial had been "critically flawed."

   The U.N. court also significantly reduced the sentences of two other
Bosnian Croats who had been convicted of involvement in the 1993 massacres
in Ahmici, when more than 100 Muslim civilians, including women and
children, were slaughtered.

   Relatives of the defendants, watching from the public gallery,
hugged each other and cried out in joy when presiding judge Patricia
Wald announced the acquittals. The five appellate judges criticized the
prosecutors, calling the indictments "too general and vague," and said
the trial court had been "critically flawed" in its assessment of the
evidence.

   The judgment was a severe setback for Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte,
who was in Yugoslavia Tuesday pressing the governments of Serbia and
Montenegro to surrender more wanted war crimes suspects in the Balkan wars.

   It was the most sweeping ruling yet by an appellate court. The case was
one of the first brought to trial by the tribunal, which was created two
years before the 1995 indictments.  The trial concluded in January 2000.

   Deputy Prosecutor Graham Blewitt told The Associated Press the
prosecution had "come a long way" since the early indictments and
"has learned a lot since then."  He said the acquittal will enhance
the court's image as fair and impartial.

   The judges ordered the immediate release from detention of brothers
Zoran and Mirjan Kupreskic and their cousin Vlatko Kupreskic.  The
two brothers have been in jail in The Hague since their surrender four
years ago. They had been sentenced to 10, 8 and 6 years imprisonment
respectively.

   The appeals court also cut the 15-year sentence of Drago Josipovic
to 12 years, and the 25-year sentence of Vladimir Santic to 18 years.

   The court said the trial court had accepted the testimony of
shaky witnesses who had identified the three Kupreskic relatives
as participants in the dawn offensive on Ahmici and the surrounding
villages in April 1993.

   Prosecutors had built a weak case based on "unreliable witnesses," it
said. The trial court had ignored the testimony of at least one witness
that could have affected the verdict, and failed to address discrepancies
between witness statements. "In doing so, the trial chamber fell into
error," it said.

   "The cases against them cannot stand," the ruling said. Reading the
judgment for more than one hour, Wald said there had been "a miscarriage
of justice."
_______________________________________________________________________
Reuters
October 23, 2000

Three Bosnian Croats Freed in UN War Crimes Appeal

   THE HAGUE, Oct. 23 (Reuters) - Three Bosnian Croats convicted by
the Hague war  crimes tribunal of taking part in an ethnic purge in a
central Bosnian village more than eight years ago had their sentences
quashed by a U.N. appeals court Tuesday.

   Zoran, Mirjan and Vlatko Kupreskic were found not guilty of crimes
against humanity for the killings of more than 100 Muslims by five judges
in the U.N. tribunal's appeals chamber, and were to be released
immediately from detention in The Hague.

   Two other Bosnian Croats had their sentences reduced by the court.
Drago Josipovic had his sentence reduced from 15 to 12 years in prison,
while Vladimir Santic had his sentence cut from 25 to 18 years.

   Crucial identification evidence from a key witness, who was in her
early teens at the time of the attack, had become questionable during the
appeal by the three members of the Kupreskic family, said presiding judge
Patricia Wald.

   All the men had been convicted for crimes related to the April 16, 1993
massacre of more than 100 Muslim civilians in the village of Ahmici, which
marked the start of the Croat-Muslim war in Bosnia.

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