Posted on 07/22/2004 11:47:38 PM PDT by Jane_N
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Prosecutors at the Yugoslav tribunal released a series of photographs Thursday that they said showed a war crimes fugitive fleeing his home in northern Serbia.
Goran Hadzic is believed to have left his home in Novi Sad on July 16 just hours after Serbian justice officials were informed of his arrest warrant.
Chief U.N. Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte accused the authorities of tipping Hadzic off and said Monday that her office had evidence of his escape, including photographs.
Earlier Thursday, Serbian police said they would seek Hadzic's detention and opened an internal investigation into his escape.
One of the three grainy, color images released by prosecutors shows a bare-chested man standing in the yard with a woman. Another shows him completely dressed standing in the driveway next to a car with the trunk open. The faces of those in the photos cannot be seen clearly.
Del Ponte said Hadzic has not returned since the indictment was given to Serbian officials.
Hadzic, a wartime leader of the self-declared breakaway Serb republic of Krajina, has been accused of crimes against humanity and violations of the customs of war in Croatia.
In 1992-93, Hadzic was president of the self-styled province of Krajina, a territory seized by Serbs in a rebellion against Croatia's declaration of independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.
Hadzic is one of 22 war crimes fugitives indicted by the U.N. court. Some 15 are hiding in Serbia, according to the tribunal.
If the Serbian government does not help detain the suspects, it faces potential sanctions imposed by the U.N. Security Council.
Del Ponte has earlier accused Belgrade of failing to cooperate in the capture of top war-crimes suspects, including former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and top Bosnian Serb Gen. Ratko Mladic.
http://www.b92.net/english/news/index.php?&nav_category=&nav_id=29236&order=priority&style=headlines
Del Ponte should be asked about Hadzic | 22:47 July 22 | B92
BELGRADE -- Thursday – Justice Minister Zoran Stojkovic said that The Hague Tribunal’s Head Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte should instead of pointing fingers at the Serbian government, ask herself whether The Hague is to blame for Goran Hadzic’s disappearance.
“According to the information I have received, the inquiry judge in Belgrade sent the indictment for Hadzic as soon as it was received by the courts, a day after it was given to the Ministry of Internal Affairs by The Tribunal. If Hadzic left two hours before the court of inquiries sent out the indictment, Del Ponte needs to ask herself, who warned him earlier.“ Stojkovic said.
When asked whether it was possible for a member of the police department to leak the information of the indictment to Hadzic, Stojkovic said, “The information cannot leak from the Ministry of Internal Affairs before the court of inquiry gets the indictment, and then tells the Ministry to bring the indicted person into custody.“
Justice Minister Stojkovic's reply to Del Ponte's accusation of authorities tipping of Hadzic about war crimes indictment makes sense to me.
Makes sense, right?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.