The Hague Tribunal in 2007

The Hague, 05 January (Source: B92) - There are currently 49 detainees in The Hague, among them 13 await verdicts and 10 are set to go on trial.

The New Year began with the conclusion of the “Vukovar Three” and Milan Martić trials. The trials of former Republika Srpska army general Dragomir Milošević, indicted for war crimes against civilians in Sarajevo in 1994-95, and Vojislav Šešelj will begin early this year.

Trials against Milan Milutinović, former Serbian president, five indictees for crimes in Kosovo, eight officers of the Republika Srpska Army and six Bosnian Croats accused of crimes against Muslims are in progress.

Several trials are expected to commence in the first half of 2007, namely against Croatian generals Ante Gotovina, Ivan Čermak and Mladen Markač, and against former KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army) commander Ramush Haradinaj, accused of crimes against Serbs.

Former State Security Service chief Jovica Stanišić and his side-kick Franko Simatović a.k.a. Frenki, both accused of crimes against non-Serbian civilians in Croatia and Bosnia, are on temporary release until June, when their trials are due to commence.

Yugoslav Army commander-in-chief Momčilo Perišić, Bosnian Army commander Rasim Delić and former Police Minister of Republika Srpska Mićo Stanišić have also been temporarily released and are awaiting their trials.

The Hague detention unit currently holds 49 detainees, among them 13 are awaiting verdicts and 24 are on first-instance trials. Eight convicts are awaiting transfer to countries where they will serve their sentences, among them Republika Srpska army general Stanislav Galić, who has been handed a life imprisonment sentence.

Ratko Mladić, Radovan Karadžić, Goran Hadžić, Vlastimir Đorđević, Stojan Župljanin and Zdravko Tolimir are still at large. Their capture is necessary for the Tribunal bring proceedings to an end within the timeframe set by the UN Security Council.

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