Celebici Trial
Tribunal Update 85: Last Week in The Hague (13-15 July 1998)
Celebici Trial
Tribunal Update 85: Last Week in The Hague (13-15 July 1998)
Unlike the other accused--Delalic, Mucic and Delic--who are charged with command responsibility as well as individual criminal responsibility, Lanzo was only a guard at the Celebici camp, and he is charged only with crimes (heavy beatings and cruel treatment) in which he allegedly took part. Several former inmates of Celebici, some of whom claimed they were victims of the accused's cruelty, testified about his activity.
The defence however is trying to prove that Landzo either could not commit such crimes (due to his physical condition: asthma and paralysis of the fingers of his right hand), or he committed them in a condition of "diminished mental capability". Psychologists and psychiatrists who examined him at the request of the defence testified last week about the results of their examination and analysis, and concluded that the accused is intelligent but with certain schizophrenic characteristics, and is susceptible to the influence of his surroundings and to suggestion. On the basis of this, the defence aims to present the accused as an "instrument in some else's hands", which according to American defence counsels Cynthia McMurrey and Nancy Boler, excludes or significantly lessens his personal criminal responsibility.
One of the psychologists who examined the accused stated that Landzo, as he confided, would prefer to serve a sentence in America, to finish college, and to marry--"even if she is a Serb". The inmates of Celebici and the victims of Landzo's alleged crimes were Bosnian Serbs from the vicinity of Konjic, in Central Bosnia.
