bmwbiker
May 16th, 2009, 12:04 AM
Branimir Glavas was the first senior Croatian official to be convicted of war crimes against Serbs.
http://www.javno.com/slike/slike_3/r1/g2009/m05/y203206556470724.jpg
Bosnia's state court on Friday released from detention a Croatian parliamentary deputy who fled to Bosnia to avoid jail for war crimes but said it would proceed with his extradition to Croatia, setting a legal precedent.
Branimir Glavas was the first senior Croatian official to be convicted of war crimes against Serbs during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. He fled to Bosnia shortly before being sentenced since he holds Bosnian citizenship.
The Western Balkan countries do not have common agreements on extradition and convicts from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia have increasingly used this legal loophole to avoid jail.
"Acting on an appeal by his lawyer, a court's council concluded that Glavas holds valid Bosnian documents and that there is no ground for keeping him further in detention," a court spokeswoman told Reuters.
"But the procedure of his extradition to Croatia will stay in force."
A Croatian court sentenced Glavas last week to 10 years in prison for the torture and killing of Serb civilians during Croatia's 1991-95 war of independence.
He was arrested in Bosnia on an international warrant this week and handed over to the state prosecution, which decided to keep him in detention pending extradition.
Glavas was accused of giving orders to members of a unit under his command to abduct, torture and murder Serbs in the eastern city of Osijek in late 1991 when he commanded the city's defence forces.
He has denied any wrongdoing and staged several hunger strikes to protest against his detention and trial. He denounced the proceedings as politically motivated and commissioned by the ruling HDZ party, which expelled him in 2006.
Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia all have ambitions to join the European Union. Their effectiveness in punishing war criminals is a key factor in any eventual membership.
http://www.javno.com/slike/slike_3/r1/g2009/m05/y203206556470724.jpg
Bosnia's state court on Friday released from detention a Croatian parliamentary deputy who fled to Bosnia to avoid jail for war crimes but said it would proceed with his extradition to Croatia, setting a legal precedent.
Branimir Glavas was the first senior Croatian official to be convicted of war crimes against Serbs during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. He fled to Bosnia shortly before being sentenced since he holds Bosnian citizenship.
The Western Balkan countries do not have common agreements on extradition and convicts from Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia have increasingly used this legal loophole to avoid jail.
"Acting on an appeal by his lawyer, a court's council concluded that Glavas holds valid Bosnian documents and that there is no ground for keeping him further in detention," a court spokeswoman told Reuters.
"But the procedure of his extradition to Croatia will stay in force."
A Croatian court sentenced Glavas last week to 10 years in prison for the torture and killing of Serb civilians during Croatia's 1991-95 war of independence.
He was arrested in Bosnia on an international warrant this week and handed over to the state prosecution, which decided to keep him in detention pending extradition.
Glavas was accused of giving orders to members of a unit under his command to abduct, torture and murder Serbs in the eastern city of Osijek in late 1991 when he commanded the city's defence forces.
He has denied any wrongdoing and staged several hunger strikes to protest against his detention and trial. He denounced the proceedings as politically motivated and commissioned by the ruling HDZ party, which expelled him in 2006.
Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia all have ambitions to join the European Union. Their effectiveness in punishing war criminals is a key factor in any eventual membership.