Posted on 08/01/2002 3:32:53 AM PDT by Voronin
Bosnian presidential candidate jailed for war crimes
A Croatian court sentenced a Bosnian Muslim candidate in October presidential polls in Bosnia to a maximum 20-year jail term for war crimes committed during the Bosnian war.
Fikret Abdic was found guilty of "war crimes against the civilian population and prisoners of war" committed around the northwestern Bosnian town of Bihac during the country's 1992-95 war.
He was sentenced by a court in the central Croatian town of Karlovac.
Abdic was sentenced in connection with the deaths of 121 civilians and three prisoners of war and the wounding of more than 400 civilians in the Bihac region.
Under Croatian law, Abdic can appeal the verdict and is entitled to pursue his candidacy for a seat in Bosnia's tripartite presidency until all appeals have been exhausted, electoral officials said.
The head of Bosnia's election commission, Lidija Korac, told AFP that only those who have received "final, unappealable judgements," are banned from running in the elections.
Abdic can therefore "run for the presidency until the judgment is confirmed by the Croatian Supreme Court," she said, and will remain on the candidates' list until the court makes its ruling.
Abdic's chances of winning the support of the majority of the Muslim electorate are rated at close to zero.
Abdic's 20-year jail term reflected his senior position, Judge Jasminka Jerinic-Musnjak said, handing down the sentence.
The court wanted the sentence to reflect the court's condemnation of war crimes and "notably those committed by those who held top positions in power."
During Bosnia's 1992-95 war, Abdic created and headed an "Autonomous Region of West Bosnia" while his militia fought Bosnia's mainly Muslim army.
He fled to Croatia in 1995 following his military defeat.
Sarajevo had repeatedly asked Zagreb to extradite him for trial before a Bosnian court but the case was eventually handed over to Croatia following an legal cooperation agreement between the two countries.
Abdic, known as "Babo" (Papa) by his followers, pleaded not guilty at his trial, repeatedly describing the trial as a "rigged political process."
A businessman who made millions in the pre-war communist era, he was the most popular Muslim politician before he split with former Muslim leader Alija Izetbegovic.
VRN
VRN
Will the Hague try crimes against Autonomy supporters?
"Agrokomerc" Affair Is Being Repeated: Sead Hodzic and Vasvija Vidovic To Put Fikret Abdic On Another Staged Trial
Bosniaks Under the Control of Panislamists
Something on Izetbegovic's Mujahideen
VRN
FYI, part of the leg of my charity ride tour is through BiH, ako bog de
Will you be traveling through the Federation part of Bosnia much, and, if so, aren't you worried about safety amongst those people?
Of course not, that wouldn't be convinient.
VRN
VRN
I was wataching PBS last night, too, and I saw part of a program hosted by Jamie Rubin, as the notorious Halfbright/clinton Goebbels-like flack and husband of the harpie Christiane Ammanpour, James Rubin, now calls himself. He was on with Harvard economist Jeffrey Sachs, who did a lot to ruin the Russian economy in the 1990s (as he himself now admits). These two New World Order hangers-on were discussing the plight of the world's poor, and weeping crocodile tears over them, as if NWO hangers-on cared one hoot about the poor. I shut the program off in time to avoid a major barf attack!!!!
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.