Eurasia Press & News
The Defence of Jadranko Prlic has filed a motion with the Hague Tribunal, requesting temporary release of the indictee.
Jadranko Prlic, a former official of the so-called Croatian community of Herzeg-Bosnia, who is on trial at The Hague, has asked the Court, via his legal representative, to be released from custody until the verdict has been handed down.
Prlic, Slobodan Praljak, Milivoje Petkovic, Bruno Stojic, Valentin Coric and Berislav Pusic are charged before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, with participation in war crimes committed in Gornji Vakuf, Jablanica, Mostar, Ljubuski, Prozor, Capljina and Vares municipalities in the course of 1992 and 1993.
Prlic’s Defence based the temporary custody release motion on the fact that this represents the indictee’s “fundamental human right”.
“Keeping Prlic unnecessarily in custody, even when there are factors that go in favour of his temporary release, is in contradiction with the presumption of innocence. At the same time it violates his right to a fair trial,” the motion reads.
It further argues that the time Prlic has spent in custody has been “unjustifiably long” and that this violates his human rights.
The indictee surrendered on April 5, 2004. He has been held in the Detention Unit in Scheveningen since then. His legal representatives believe the trial of the six indictees will not be completed “until May 2010 at the earliest”.
“Prlic can contribute to his defence in a more effective manner if he is in Croatia. If temporarily released, Prlic could follow the trial via the Internet and communicate with his legal representative by e-mail. The indictee could contribute to his defence by conducting research on the Internet,” the motion reads.
Besides the temporary release motion, Prlic’s legal representatives have filed “a temporary release warranty” obtained from the Ministry of Justice of Croatia.
“The Government of the Republic of Croatia will undertake the necessary measures in order to make sure that Mr. Prlic will appear at the trial and that he will in no way represent a threat to witnesses, victims or other people while at liberty,” the motion states.
The trial of the six indictees began in April 2006. The Prosecution completed its evidence presentation in January 2008, after which all the indictees were temporarily released on several occasions. The Defence teams began presenting evidence in May 2008.
