NETHERLANDS: PLAVSIC WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL скачать в хорошем качестве

NETHERLANDS: PLAVSIC WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL

(10 Jan 2001) English/Nat XFA A key Bosnian Serb wartime leader turned herself in to the U-N war crimes tribunal on Wednesday. Biljana Plavsic, a hardline nationalist politician during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, will answer to accusations including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict. At present the exact charges are contained in a sealed indictment. She will be the highest ranking Bosnian Serb official and first woman to face charges at the tribunal. Plavsic was a key aide to Radovan Karadzic, the tribunal's most wanted Bosnian suspect. Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte gave a press conference with Plavsic's attorney, Krstan Simic on Wednesday. Plavsic was in the tribunal's custody and would make an initial court appearance on Thursday to enter a plea when the indictment is unsealed, Del Ponte said. Plavsic flew to the Netherlands on Tuesday to obey a summons from the court, according to Svetozar Mihajlovic, a top official in Plavsic's political party. Her lawyer said Plavsic's contacts with Karadzic and his wartime military chief, Ratko Mladic, who is also under indictment, "stopped in 1995-96." During the Balkan conflict, Bosnian Serb forces led a campaign of murder and expulsion against tens of thousands of Muslims and Croats. Plavsic held a top position alongside Karadzic, later becoming notorious for nationalist statements. Plavsic, a 70-year-old biologist from the Bosnian city of Tuzla, sided with the Serb leadership during the war, but later distanced herself from their ultranationalist policies and turned pro-western. Since its establishment in 1993, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has sentenced 14 Bosnian Serb, Croat and Muslim suspects to up to 45 years in prison. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I confirm that Biljana Plavsic surrendered voluntarily, by arrangement to the international tribunal in the Hague today, having been advised of the existence of an indictment against her and an outstanding warrant of her arrest. She flew to the Netherlands from Banja Luka and is now in the tribunal's custody. Biljana Plavsic, formerly a member of the presidency of the so-called "Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Hercegovina" and member of the supreme command of the Bosnian Serb armed forces is indicted for genocide, crimes against humanity, violations of the laws and customs of war and grave breaches of the Geneva convention in Bosnia and Hercegovina in 1991 and 1992." SUPER CAPTION: Carla Del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor SOUNDBITE: (English) "No negotiations at all (have taken place between Plavsic and the tribunal). The only contact was because she wanted to voluntarily surrender and so the defence counsel got in contact with us." SUPER CAPTION: Carla Del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat with English translation) "Mrs Plavsic had some indications that there was an indictment against her and following her political, moral and life principles, she decided to surrender voluntarily to the office of the prosecutor and to the international tribunal because, legally speaking, she is aware that this is the only place where she can prove her innocence or her guilt and that is something that she deeply believes in." SUPER CAPTION: Krstan Simic, Plavsic's Attorney Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...