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Hague court frees war crimes suspect

Strugar left The Hague and flew back to Montenegro
Strugar left The Hague and flew back to Montenegro  


PODGORICA, Yugoslavia -- The U.N. war crimes tribunal has freed a former Yugoslav general pending his trial on charges related to the 1991 shelling of the Croatian port of Dubrovnik.

Retired Lieutenant-General Pavle Strugar, who faces multiple charges including murder and cruelty, surrendered voluntarily to the Dutch-based court in October vowing to prove his innocence.

A spokesman for the U.N. court earlier told Reuters in The Hague that Strugar had been released at around 0930 GMT on Saturday.

Following his release Strugar flew to Podgorica, the main city in the Yugoslav coastal republic of Montenegro.

"I am happy to see you," Strugar told reporters waiting for him at the airport.

He thanked the U.N. tribunal as well as the Montenegrin government, which promised to ensure Strugar would answer all court summons if he was freed.

The government also argued that by releasing Strugar the tribunal might encourage other war crimes indictees to turn themselves in.

Strugar, 68, is one of four people charged with responsibility for 43 civilian deaths during the shelling of Dubrovnik over a decade ago.

They face 16 counts of violating the laws and customs of war, including murder, cruelty, attacks on civilians and the destruction of historic monuments.

The Serb-dominated Yugoslav army and navy surrounded and attacked Dubrovnik, considered one of the world's most beautiful cities, in support of a rebellion by minority Serbs in Croatia against Croatian independence.

Strugar, who pleaded not guilty to all charges at his initial court appearance on 23 October, told Montenegrin state television before he gave himself up in October: "I am…convinced that (The Hague) is as honorable court as it could be here in Yugoslavia.

"I was soldier for 42 years. I always have been working in dignified and human manner, towards people and my country.

"I have been dignified and human in a war, too. I am not a criminal. I expect fair trial where I will prove my innocence."

In November, one of his co-accused, former Vice Admiral Miodrag Jokic also surrendered to the tribunal.

The other two -- Adm. Milan Zec, 58, and Capt. Vladimir Kovacevic, 40 -- remain at large and are believed to be hiding in Serbia.

Strugar's lawyer said he did not expect the trial to start until late 2002.

"Having in mind the dynamics of cases before the tribunal, I don't believe the case will come to trial before the end of next year.

"And before that, we have a lot to do," lawyer Goran Rodic told reporters at the airport.



 
 
 
 


RELATED STORIES:
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• Croatia war suspect flies to Hague
October 21, 2001

RELATED SITES:
• International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
• Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

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